McHenry Times

The look on the face of Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) said it all as he walked away from the recent special session of the state legislature, where Democrats signed off on a new $42 billion state budget.

“The budget the Democrats approved is an affront to every taxpayer in Illinois,” Skillicorn told the McHenry Times. “There was no talk this week about reforms or spending reductions or anything that will turn our finances around. Instead, all we got was more of the same. More spending. More borrowing. More pay raises for career politicians. Every Illinois citizen should be outraged by this gross violation of the public trust.”

The plan that sailed through the General Assembly and now awaits the signature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker is heavily dependent on funding from the federal government as a way of plugging all the holes made even deeper by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In addition, lawmakers also approved a provision that allows for the borrowing of up to $5 billion from the federal government, which legislators hope will eventually be repaid with more funds allocated from Washington.

“Think about this, the democrat budget includes $5 billion in borrowing from the Federal Reserve,” Skillicorn added. “So, while a million Illinois residents are filing for unemployment, Democrats are borrowing money to pay for a bloated budget that includes a nice pay raise for themselves?”

Lawmakers are in line for a $1,800 raise as part of the package, which was passed at a time when most small businesses remain shuttered by the stay-at-home-order put into effect by the governor.

Skillicorn said the pay raise is just another slap in the face to already stressed-out taxpayers.

“The way pay raises are set up in the Illinois General Assembly is that lawmakers get an automatic COLA increase every year unless there is a bill to stop the COLA from going into effect,” he said. “The budget the Democrat majority approved did not include an accompanying bill to stop the automatic pay raises for legislators and so for the second year in a row, legislators are getting a pay increase.”