If Speaker Welch wants to know why Illinois is facing budget trouble, he doesn’t need to look any further than his and his own party’s voting records in Springfield. Governor Pritzker has proposed yet another record-setting state budget at $56 billion, after signing a $55 billion budget last year that included more than $700 million in new taxes and fees.
And when the state had an opportunity last year to show restraint, Democrats chose politics over priorities. Speaker Welch helped direct $40 million to his former high school. While Democrat pork projects ran wild, not a single dollar went to Republican districts.
Now, according to Politico, Speaker Welch says Democrats want to focus on lowering the cost of living, including “gas, groceries, rent, mortgages,” and are reviewing legislation that “helps bring costs down.”
That is welcome news, because House Republicans have already introduced real proposals to do exactly that. Representative Ryan Spain has filed HB 5738 to suspend the state sales tax on gas and HB 1383 to implement “No Tax on Tips” in Illinois. If Democrats are serious about lowering costs, those bills should be at the top of their list.
The problem is that while Republicans are offering solutions to Illinois’ affordability crisis, Democrats keep making things worse.
Just look at the record of Governor Pritzker and House Democrats:
- Illinois residents are paying an average of $1,434 more per person in taxes than before Governor Pritzker took office.
- Since 2019, Illinois state government has taken in $18 billion more from taxpayers, a 51% increase that far outpaces inflation.
- Governor Pritzker has enacted at least 49 tax and fee hikes since taking office.
- In 2019, Gov. Pritzker doubled the gas tax and added automatic annual inflation adjustments.
- Just this past fall, Democrats raised tolls, opened the door to a new RTA sales tax hike to bail out mass transit, and passed an $8 billion energy rate hike for green energy giveaways.
As Democrats continue pointing fingers, House Republicans will continue advancing real solutions to lower costs and make life more affordable for the people of Illinois.