The Illinois state budget is another smorgasbord of goodies for the politically connected and the preferred political causes of the far left, according to State Representative Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City).
“We finally know what the price tag is for far-left virtue signaling. It is $50.6 billion dollars. We are once again setting a record for spending without even a modicum of accountability measures in place. No wonder the House Democrats waited until everyone was asleep to pass their spending plan.
We are creating new programs when we should be scaling back and addressing long-term spending pressures. This budget gives lawmakers, yet another pay raise. At a time when families are struggling to buy eggs, Illinois Democrats are helping themselves to yet another pay hike.
The budget deal does not include an extension for the Invest in Kids program. We are denying kids real opportunity by ending this program. The keys to stopping the cycle of violent crime in places like Chicago are opportunity and education. Opportunity and education are the best tools we have to fix the crime problem. We are the only state in the country going backward when it comes to empowering families with a real choice in education and the only reason it is being done is to appease the political insiders and influence peddlers who profit from their relationships with Illinois’ mediocre leadership.
The budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for services for people who are here illegally. The 22,000 kids who are on a waiting list hoping to get an Invest in Kids scholarship to escape failing schools won’t get that chance. But we are backing up the Brinks trucks to fund services for people who broke the law to get into our country. There is no transparency. There is no accountability. Even some Democrats could not bring themselves to vote for this out-of-control budget. It is time we prioritized the working people of this state instead of the politically connected insiders who are profiting from our state’s decline.”