Earlier this week, Speaker Welch took a victory lap for the way House Democrats passed their end-of-session agenda, including the largest budget in Illinois history and $800 million in new tax hikes.

During a press conference, Speaker Welch praised Democrats' approach, stating:

"By using our processes and taking the time to listen and to get it right, we delivered finished products that were better than we could have ever imagined."

What Speaker Welch failed to mention was the lack of transparency, the suspension of House rules to take up bills quicker, and the fact that Illinois families will ultimately be left footing the bill.

Throughout the spring legislative session, Democrats repeatedly claimed affordability was their top priority for Illinois families. But when it came time to deliver, they did what Illinois families have come to expect: said one thing and did another.

Instead of providing relief to working families struggling with rising costs, House Democrats passed the largest budget in Illinois history, a $55.9 billion spending plan propped up by $800 million in new tax hikes.

After spending months promising to focus on affordability, Speaker Welch and House Democrats abandoned that pledge and instead passed $800 million in tax hikes as part of the largest budget in Illinois history.

During a City Club of Chicago event in January, Speaker Welch declared, "Everything is about affordability and that's going to be our focus." But Illinois families struggling with rising costs may find that hard to believe after Democrats approved a record-setting $55.9 billion state budget packed with new taxes, spending, and political giveaways.

In a recent podcast interview, Governor JB Pritzker said, “I hate the word affordability. I don’t think people really understand the concept.”

Illinois families understand affordability because they feel every day how unaffordable Governor Pritzker has made life in Illinois. They feel it when they open a property tax bill, pay a utility bill, or watch more of their paycheck disappear.

As the final week of session gets underway, House Democrats are spending valuable floor time this afternoon bringing Senator Dick Durbin to Springfield for a joint address instead of focusing on legislation that would actually help Illinois families.

Rather than working to address the affordability crisis Democrats have created, lawmakers will sit through a speech from a career Washington politician whose policies have failed working families across Illinois.

With New York becoming the second Democrat-led state to opt into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit program, Illinois should stop putting politics ahead of students and do the same. New York now joins 29 other states across the country that have embraced this opportunity to expand educational resources and support for families.

According to the Chicago Police Department, Alphanso Talley has now been charged in the heinous murder of a Chicago police officer and the attempted murder of another officer, along with a long list of additional felony charges.

 
At the time of this horrific attack, Talley was wanted on three warrants, was on parole in two separate cases, and had a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2017.