|
The speaker held a brief press conference at the Illinois
Capitol Wednesday ahead of floor action. Welch, D-Hillside, said
statehouse Democrats are building consensus on things they hope
to accomplish.
“It’s critical that we get things done to address important
issues that are going on in this state. People want us to
address affordability issues,” Welch said.
House Democrats then introduced resolutions directing criticism
at the Trump administration and federal immigration enforcement.
Republican state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, said
Democrats do nothing to address their own failed policies.
“Right on cue, the Democrats always go to, ‘It’s always somebody
else’s fault.’ It’s their bad policy that’s driving the cost of
living up, making all these things more difficult in the state
of Illinois,” Halbrook told The Center Square. “They’re doing
nothing to address the high cost of living when it comes to
property taxes.”
Halbrook said Illinois has the highest property taxes and the
highest or second-highest gas taxes in the nation.
During his press conference, Welch also touched on high energy
costs.
“Bringing down the cost of utility bills that are scary right
now, we’re trying our best to get something done on that,” Welch
said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA)
in 2021, setting the state toward decarbonization and the
closure of coal-fired power plants by 2045.
Neither Pritzker nor Welch offered plans to relax the state’s
decarbonization mandates after Illinoisans’ electric bills
spiked this summer.
Halbrook said Illinois Democrats need to rethink their energy
policies.
“We’ve got to have the baseload generation of coal and natural
gas. All the while, the majority party wants to phase that out.
That’s what’s driving costs up,” Halbrook said.
Fall veto session continues Thursday, followed by three days
Oct. 28 to 30.
Greg Bishop contributed to this story.
|
|
