BUDGET
Illinois begins discussion of budget for Fiscal Year 2023. Discussions began after Governor JB Pritzker delivered his FY23 Budget and State of the State Address Wednesday at the Old State Capitol. The Governor’s budget plan covers the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023, a 12-month period that will begin on July 1, 2022 and will end on June 30, 2023. The budget anticipates that Illinois will have $45.4 billion in general funds to spend in FY23. This follows the $43 billion budget approved by the Democrats in 2021 for FY22.

Illinois House Republican lawmakers from across the state respond to the Governor’s State-of-the-State and Budget Address, below are a few excerpts:

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin
The governor’s budget address is always a wish-list, and this year it’s clear that the governor wishes to be reelected. The budget laid out by Governor Pritzker today is packed with gimmicks and one-time tricks, but no structural reforms. The people of Illinois deserve a governor who will be honest and work to actually fix things like property taxes and out-of-control crime. Read more.  

The most common of all neuro-cognitive disorders, dyslexia, affects 20 percent of the population and represents 80-90 percent of those with learning disabilities. It is estimated that 1 in 5 children in school are dyslexic but not all of those students, only about 5%, are identified as such. 

While intensive dyslexia interventions are most effective when they begin in kindergarten or first grade, oftentimes dyslexia goes undetected until 3rd or 4th grade, if at all. Experts agree that early reading problems can manifest as serious reading disabilities later on so it is vital that students are screened for dyslexia when they enter school. 

CRIMINAL LAW
Durkin Proposes Victim-Focused Overhaul of Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board. With a focus on protecting victims of violent crime and their families, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin introduced legislation on Thursday to overhaul Illinois’ Prisoner Review Board (PRB) and provide greater weight to the interests of victims of violent crime, rather than criminals.

“Today, I am here to give hope to the forgotten voices in our present criminal justice system, the victims of crime. The despair and anguish felt by crime victims and the futility they experience seeking closure for the tragic and brutal loss of a family member, loved one, or friend cannot be discounted,” said Durkin. “That pain and torment is only fueled by the decisions of Governor Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board.” 

In this podcast episode, Illinois State Representatives Ryan Spain and Patrick Windhorst discuss the need to repeal the SAFE-T Act to stem the rising tide of crime and violence in Illinois.

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Have All Voted Who Wish · House Republicans sponsor repeal of anti-police SAFE-T Act amid rising crime in Illinois

A police officer attempts to pull over a driver for running a red light. The driver knows there are drugs in the car and if caught may be charged with drug possession, a crime that carries up to 15 years in prison. Aware of the local police department’s strict pursuit policies preventing officers from giving chase at high rates of speed, the driver doesn’t stop and instead takes off - exceeding 100 mph. Sure, the driver knows they could be charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, but the sentence and penalties will be significantly lower than if they had been caught with the drugs – only facing 1-3 years of prison instead of 15.

For the last several years, Democrats who control both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly have implemented an unwritten policy prohibiting increased penalties in current criminal statutes. Additionally, they have prevented the passage of laws that would criminalize new behaviors. Two such examples of legislation that were thwarted by Democrats include one that would have increased penalties for attacks on DCFS workers and the another that created a new law criminalizing surreptitious electronic tracking.