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Pritzker said he wants next week’s speech to be a big reveal. He
said the bottom line is “more of what we care about.”
“Investing in education, investing in early childhood education
and child care and early intervention and making sure, by the
way, at that on the other end of the K-12 pipeline that they are
also getting a great higher education,” he said.
The governor also said he’s focused on helping working class
families.
“Lifting up the people who have been left out and left behind, I
think those are all the obligations, the basic obligations of
this state,” Pritzker said Friday.
Republicans warn of possible deficits up to $890 million. State
Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said that in recent years, human
services spending increased by $3.6 billion and health care and
Medicaid spending increased by $1.5 billion.
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said first and
foremost there should be no new taxes and no new spending
programs. She also said if the budget is the “moral document”
that legislators say it is, the priority needs to be on
citizens, not non-citizen migrants.
“Cadillac health care costs for non-citizens? And that certainly
is not a priority of the taxpayers that I’m hearing from not
only within my district but across the state as the leader,”
McCombie said.
With possible deficits, McCombie said the budget should spend
within its means. She also warned against any attempt to revive
attempts at a progressive income tax like what failed to pass in
2020.
“We would rather have true structural and political reform that
we can actually grow our population compared to growing our tax
rates,” she said.
Pritzker delivers his budget address Wednesday, Feb. 21.
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