SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Local Republican lawmakers say they were unimpressed with what Governor JB Pritzker had to say in his State of the State and budget address Wednesday.
Pritzker proposed making more than the minimum state pension payment this year, and touted an improved credit rating, but State Senator Win Stoller says the picture isn’t that rosy.
“We still have the highest pension debt in the country,” said Stoller (R-Peoria). “We still have the worst credit rating of any state in the country. Inflation is raging. Crime is out of control. And, last year, 113,000 people left our state.”
Pritzker said the improved financial situation is due to changes in the way the state does business, but Stoller says no behavior has changed. He claims a temporary revenue windfall is what led to the state being in the financial mess it’s in to begin with.
When Pritzker took a victory lap of sorts regarding the state’s finances Wednesday, State Representative Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) says the Governor was basically lying.
“If you remember just two years ago, the Governor demanded that we pass his massive income tax increase. Or, if not, he would deliver huge spending cuts to key services throughout the State of Illinois.
Voters then rejected a referendum proposing a statewide income tax increase.
Republican lawmakers say they’d have preferred to see more long term tax relief for Illinoisans, and they’d also like to see a better plan to combat the increase in violent crime.
