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May 31 is the deadline to pass a budget with simple majorities.
Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman, state Sen. Laura Murphy,
D-Des Plaines, said the general outline is out there from the
governor’s proposed budget.
“We’re going to try to be as transparent as possible,” Murphy
told The Center Square. “The crux of the budget lies within the
governor’s proposal that has been out since February, so people
have had the opportunity to review and to look at that.”
State Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said Republicans have been
involved at a 10,000 foot level.
“But if history serves us correctly, that’s a signal that the
Democrat majority will go it alone and they will continue to
increase wasteful spending and absolutely continue to raise
taxes on hardworking Illinois families,” Hammond said during a
news conference Thursday.
The Illinois Revenue Alliance announced a list of tax increase
proposals it said would raise taxes by $6 billion. Republicans
warned and pushed back against the proposals, including one to
cut the estate tax exemption from $4 million to $2 million.
State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, is a proponent of bringing an
approach to Illinois similar to the cost-saving efforts of the
Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration.
She said while Pritzker administration officials have called for
agencies to find efficiencies, on the House Appropriations
General Services Committee, Elik hasn’t seen it.
“There’s been nothing significant that indicates that they’re
cutting expenses internally,” she said during a news conference.
“In fact, there are pay raises involved, the [cost of living
allocation] increases.”
Murphy said there is still time to have conversations with
agency heads about finding efficiencies, but she pushed back on
taking a DOGE approach in Illinois.
“I think the problem with DOGE and what you’re going to see is
if they used a scalpel, that would be fine. But the chainsaw
approach is just too much,” she told The Center Square.
At nearly $55 billion, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposed budget will
be the most expensive ever for taxpayers.
The next fiscal year begins July 1.
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