In the early morning hours of Wednesday, Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly voted to implement a $53.1 billion spending plan, passing the largest budget in state history, without Republican support. The Fiscal Year 2025 budget is a whopping $2.6 billion more than last year’s enacted budget and includes pay raises for politicians and a staggering $1 billion for non-citizens. Moreover, Democrats voted for $1 billion in tax hikes to pay for their record-breaking spending.
Over the last four years, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has joined Governor Pritzker in a voracious appetite for increased government spending. Since the Fiscal Year 2020 budget, Democratic lawmakers have voted to grow state expenditures by more than $13 billion, from nearly $40 billion in 2020 to more than $53 billion this year and have forced hard-working Illinoisans to foot the bill.
Here is what House Republican lawmakers are saying about the FY 2025 budget:
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna)
“This budget is a negligent political document that comes at a massive price to Illinois families. The partisan approach by Democratic leaders has pushed the state onto a failed path of taxes and overspending while ignoring necessary structural and ethical reforms.
“Over the past few weeks, the House has passed bills that address vital needs in the state. The Illinois House Republican caucus, representing parts of all 102 counties, is responsible for holding the majority party accountable on spending. This is especially important with the passage of a budget with bloated political projects, taxpayer-funded benefits for noncitizens, and politician pay raises, which come at the expense of the state’s most vulnerable residents.”
Deputy Republican Leader & Chief Budgeteer Norine Hammond (R-Macomb)
“In the early morning hours, Illinois Democrats passed the largest budget in state history. In just six years under Governor Pritzker, State spending has increased by more than $13 billion, a 32 percent increase. Illinois working families and seniors cannot afford to pay for all this massive spending, especially at a time when so many are struggling with high inflation, high interest rates, and persistently high unemployment.
“This budget includes over $1 billion in additional revenue, raising taxes on Illinois families and businesses while providing minimal tax relief. Adding insult to injury, the Democrats are giving tax breaks to Hollywood studios and Green New Deal environmentalists, while raising taxes on small businesses across the state. The Democrats’ spending plan raids the Road Fund to help pay for Chicago’s mass transit mess. It includes $625 million in new pork projects for Democrat legislators. And worst of all, this budget spends $1 billion on taxpayer-funded benefits for migrants and undocumented immigrants.
“This record-high budget does not reflect the shared priorities of Illinois families.”
Assistant Republican Leader & Budgeteer Amy Elik (R-Alton)
“Hard-working Illinoisans are struggling to afford basic needs amidst high inflation and higher cost of living increases. While Democrats prioritized raising taxes, spending on new programs, and subsidizing failed open-border immigration policies, our state’s most vulnerable citizens have been shortchanged. I’m greatly concerned that the excessive spending this year and, in the future, can only be paid for by more and more tax hikes in the future.”
Assistant Republican Leader Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis)
”I am concerned with the way that the Democrats’ spending plan prioritizes appropriations for non-citizens to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars and at the same time increases taxes on individuals, working families, and businesses. While I understand the state of Illinois faces budgetary pressures, I would have preferred a budget that prioritized tax cuts and spending cuts during this incredibly difficult financial time for taxpayers.”
Assistant Republican Leader Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee)
“I am deeply frustrated by the lack of bipartisan cooperation on this budget yet again. Republican lawmakers were once again shut out from budget discussions despite our ongoing offers to be a part of the process, in addition to our caucus representing all or part of all 102 counties in the state. Our state budget is for everyone, and all constituents deserve representation when it’s being crafted, regardless of their zip code.”
Assistant Republican Leader Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore)
“Since before the Governor’s budget proposal in 2023, my Republican colleagues and I have been warning that our state would face a deficit as federal COVID relief funds ran out and all the new spending initiatives created by progressive Democrats and the Governor ran out of funding sources. Well, this budget lays bare that problem as Democrats are ramming more than a billion dollars in tax increases and cost shifts down taxpayers’ throats that will only stand to drive more Illinois families and job creators out of our state.”
Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva)
“One of the biggest problems we have in Illinois is over-taxation of businesses and residents, and this budget once again calls for huge tax increases. As we continue to enact policies that are not pro-growth, job creators are not going to be drawn to our state. This budget, crafted by Democrats with no Republican involvement, does not address the needs of our residents and instead doubles down on bad policies and misplaced priorities.”
Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield)
“This is the largest partisan budget in state history that fails to address the dire needs of Illinois residents and businesses. This is a sobering moment for our state as we continue to spend millions on non-citizens at the expense of taxpayers while families are struggling to make ends meet. Illinois could be a prosperous state, but our government is prioritizing the needs of non-citizens rather than the needs of hard-working taxpayers.”
Rep. Jed Davis (R-Yorkville)
“This outcome is the sad reality of an out-of-balance state legislature, operating on the will of one party. We must bring balance back to the Illinois government, which inevitably brings balance back to our state’s budget.”