Late last week, the Illinois General Assembly passed the state’s budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, which represents the largest spending plan in Illinois history at $50.6 billion. The proposal now heads to the Governor to be signed.
In the Senate, the plan received bipartisan opposition, in which Senate Republicans said the budget further reflects the Majority Party’s misplaced priorities and continues to expand the size of government with new programs at a time when revenues are slowing, and a recession is looming. State Senator Sue Rezin says this excessive spending is not sustainable and taxpayers will likely be on the hook down the road.
While Senate Republicans were pleased to be at the budget negotiating table this year, as they sought to create a state budget that reflects the priorities of their constituents, the budget that passed missed the mark.
Instead of providing better services to the developmentally disabled community, the FY24 budget prioritizes a program that provides free healthcare to undocumented immigrants, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The spending plan also includes more than $300 million in Democrat-only projects and a $400 million slush fund for the Governor but fails to provide the necessary incentives to retain the state’s employers and bring new businesses and jobs to Illinois.
Sen. Rezin says that this year was a missed opportunity to show the people of the state that their elected officials can indeed work together in their best interests. She says that despite some progress made in negotiations it became clear that opportunity was washed away when the Majority Party chose their misguided priorities over the priorities of ordinary Illinoisans.
The FY24 budget, if signed into law, will take effect at the start of the new fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023.