Pritzker touts federal COVID funds, Republicans warn of record inflation

[March 02, 2022]  By Greg Bishop

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker testified to a U.S. House committee Tuesday about the myriad of uses for COVID-19 relief funds federal taxpayers sent to Illinois.

Republicans say the spending is leading to record inflation and there needs to be more oversight at the state level.

Illinois got more than $8.1 billion in federal tax funds. Pritzker, who said his proposed budget is balanced despite the “burst of resources” federal taxpayers sent to state and local governments, said the funds were used in business grants and more.

“We put half a billion dollars towards some of the most direct building blocks of our recovery, small businesses, tourism support, workforce development and restoring our commercial corridors,” Pritzker told the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

He was one of several state and local witnesses from across the country talking about the use of federal tax funds.

“We ensured continuous government services at frontline agencies like the [Illinois] Department of Public Health,” Pritzker said. “We launched an unprecedented commitment to combat firearm violence. We accelerated infrastructure investments including our internet connectivity program and the list goes on.”

Reason Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Marc Joffe warned of government bloat.

“A lot of the wins that have been presented here have to do with state and local governments spending money on broadband, but that’s also in the infrastructure bill as well, so you have a lot of duplication of effort across these bills and naturally you’re going to have a lot of waste,” Joffe said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Reason Foundation's Marc Joffe, and U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, during Tuesday's U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee. At the Illinois statehouse, state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon.  

• Oversight Committee YouTube, Greg Bishop / The Center Square

Joffe also said inflation is expected to continue for years in the future because of the increased federal spending.

Ranking committee member U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, pointed to a poster showing the inflation of regular household items and said the increased government spending will have to be funded by future taxpayers.

“You can’t continue to print and spend money without suffering the consequences of inflation,” Comer said.

Back at the Illinois statehouse, state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, said there needs to be more oversight because the Legislative Budget Oversight Commission isn’t cutting it.

“It’s been things that are in the rearview mirror, So it’s things that have already happened, decisions that have already been made. And I think it is really important in this context for the legislature to hold on to its core power, which is the power to appropriate money, the power of the purse.”

Demmer filed legislation last month to require legislative leaders to be notified of any spending of COVID dollars, and for the legislature to approve such spending. He also said the state needs to pay down the more than $4 billion unemployment debt. Not paying that off is costing Illinois taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in interest.