(The Center Square) – With Friday being the last scheduled day for the spring session at the Illinois Statehouse, lawmakers have yet to reveal a state budget for taxpayers to review.
Last year’s budget was over 3,000 pages and was presented by the Democratic majority to Republicans at the last moment, giving the public no time to review it.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget proposal includes nearly $50 billion in state spending, an increase to the state’s annual spending by $3 billion.
Revenue estimates were revised downward this month. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability said April receipts fell $1.8 billion compared to the same month the year prior.
Now more spending pressures have appeared, including a proposed program expansion to provide health care for more incoming migrants.
During a news conference Wednesday, Tovia Siegel, director of the organization Healthy Illinois, called on lawmakers to approve the funding.
“It saves lives in the long run,” Siegel said. “It saves lives and it saves money too. This isn’t breaking the state budget, and to say so is just blatantly anti-immigrant.”
State Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, who serves as chief budgeteer for the House Republican Caucus, has laid out in detail the dramatic growth in undocumented immigrant participation, which will require nearly a billion dollars in general revenue funds to support the program in fiscal year 2024.
“Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for any federal Medicaid match, resulting in state [General Revenue Fund] being used to pay for the entirety of services provided,” Hammond said last month. “These ballooning enrollments and costs are unsustainable and could lead to the loss of funding and services for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens.”
House Republicans have called for a moratorium on expanding the state’s health care program, saying Illinois is facing a fiscal emergency.
State Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said the needs of Illinoisans should be addressed in the state budget.
“We just can’t prioritize nonresidents of Illinois when you’ve got so many costs for our current residents in infrastructure, schools, ect. that have pressing needs,” Sosnowski said.
This article First appeared in the center square