SPRINGFIELD — Area lawmakers are reacting to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. The governor presented his plan to the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday.
58th district State Senator Paul Schimpf says the governor cannot continue to add expenses to the state budget without looking for places to cut back.
54th district State Senator Jason Plummer says he appreciates the attempt at an initial balanced budget from Pritzker, but he doesn’t want to see more taxes put on Illinois residents.
Both Schimpf and Plummer appreciated the tone of bipartisanship Pritzker brought to the address.
State Representative Dave Severin (R-Benton) said while there were a few encouraging points in the governor’s speech, the problem was the things he didn’t talk about.
State Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) said it is a mistake to once again kick the pension can down the road plus putting more taxes on the taxpayers of the state is not the right way to address the states problems.
State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) said the address was frustrating because all he heard about was more taxes and no pension reform.
State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) said it is a budget that is full of a few good things and a whole lot of really bad.
59th District State Senator Dale Fowler says he understands about the governor being aggressive toward his initiatives and is concerned about some of those initiatives he proposed Wednesday.
Pritzker told lawmakers the proposal is just a starting point and he hopes to work across the aisle to find compromise in the state budget.