SPRINGFIELD… State Representative Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) voted no on the Budget Implementation Bill (BIMP) and the FY 2023 budget.
Rep. McLaughlin said, “I voted no on the Democrats’ budget today, because it’s long on risky financial maneuvers and short on real fiscal reforms which our state desperately needs. The Democrats’ budget did not fix the Unemployment Insurance fund, added over $3 billion in pork projects for Democrat’s districts, and they added pay raises for themselves to add insult to injury.
“Normally, we get to drill down into the details of the State’s Budget over a period of weeks in appropriation meetings, where we go over line items and revenue estimates together with agency heads. However, the Democrats decided on a shortened political session, so we are left with a finished product that is over 4,200 pages long, handed to us with only 48 hours before adjournment.
“This budget was crafted behind closed doors that changed several times in the last two days without any public input or review period and with absolutely no Republican participation. We received the final budget draft in the House Chamber at 4 a.m. – moments before the final vote on shortened debate.
“This process is a terrible way to review such an important piece of legislation let alone understand the intention of where exactly all of our money is headed. My cursory review looks like the Governor and his team are spending as if he actually received permission from the voters to implement his unpopular progressive tax increase, but in reality 58% of Illinoisans rejected that egregious fiscal spending in 2020.
“There is hardly any relief for our towns, cities, and villages and DOES NOT return state income tax dollars to our municipalities at the rate they are entitled to through the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF).”