McHenry Times

State Sen. Craig Wilcox, R-McHenry, is putting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s new state spending plan in his crosshairs, calling it little more than tricks and gimmicks in a post on his website.

Wilcox, in the statement on his website, said the governor’s spending plan is out of step with issues that are a priority for most residents in the state.

“We’re spending hundreds of millions on programs for non-citizens, while still coming up short in taking care of vulnerable Illinois citizens,” Wilcox said in the statement. “Rather than spending over $100 million on welcome centers for undocumented immigrants and over a half billion for free health care for those in this country illegally, I would have liked that money channeled toward ensuring those who care for the developmentally disabled were earning a respectable wage and toward job incentives to create jobs and grow the state’s economy.”

According to the news release, Wilcox is taking exception with a program funded by tax money that he said is part of a plan to provide free healthcare to undocumented immigrants, making Illinois the only state in the nation to offer this amount of care to undocumented immigrants aged 42 and older.

In the statement, Wilcox and an increasing number of GOP legislators maintain that with just $100 million surpluses in the 2024 spending plan approved by lawmakers, there isn’t enough to cover the state’s responsibilities under the proposal.

Moreover, Wilcox also noted in the statement that there remain plenty of questions about whether the budget will be balanced by the end of the year, with the 3,500-page document including several spending initiatives that are lower than the likely price tag, and likely to ush the spending past anticipated revenues.

“At the end of the day, this budget fails the people of Illinois,” he concluded in the statement on his website. “We had a real opportunity to produce a budget that addressed important issues, like crime, inflation, care for vulnerable citizens, and scholarships that lift up kids in failing schools. Instead, as always, the majority party pushed their own priorities and their own pet projects at the expense of Illinois families.”