McHenry Times

Illinois Republicans are frustrated that the Democratic majority's budget proposal claims a $1.3 billion shortage in the state's revenue for the upcoming fiscal year. 

State Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee) joined a May 27 news conference last week to discuss why the Democrats are not accounting for billions of dollars' worth of expected revenue.

"When I came to the Illinois Senate in 2018, one of the things I learned right out of the box was the importance of being an honest broker," DeWitte said. "When you pledge your support or opposition to an initiative in this town and in this building, your colleagues need to know they can take that pledge to the bank."

This integrity, the senator said, is especially important when related to constituents' livelihoods, jobs and families. DeWitte was involved in the bipartisan negotiations for the Rebuild Illinois 2019 Capital Bill, and says he "remembers vividly Gov. Pritzker hailing a series of job-creating, economy-boosting incentives" that would help Illinois families and businesses. 

The programs in the Capital Bill included the Blue Collar Jobs Act, reinstatement of the Manufacturers' Purchase Credit and elimination of the franchise tax. As a whole, the bill was meant to encourage job creation and pave the way for easier business growth and investments. 

Now, according to DeWitte and several other legislators, Pritzker is seeking to slash the very programs he created and now refers to them as "corporate tax loopholes." The $269 million transportation budget cut that Pritzker proposed would reportedly cost Illinois thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in economic output. 

"Continued and predictable investment is important not only for our infrastructure but also for the entire state's economy," DeWitte said. "On top of these promises, the governor seems perfectly willing to significantly cut tax credits that allow lower-income Illinoisans in failing public schools to obtain scholarships that allow them to leave their failing schools and receive their educations in private school settings."

DeWitte called on Pritzker to honor his commitment to transportation investment, move motor fuel sales tax into the transportation renewal fund and eliminate the 10% cut to public/mass transit funding.

"The governor's change of heart and incentives he agreed to and promoted shows us just how insatiable his party's appetite is for more revenue and more spending," DeWitte said. "[...] There is no need to eliminate these job incentives. There is no need to sweep transit and local government revenues.

"The governor does not need to eliminate job creation programs. He does not need to cut revenues other government entities in our state need and and their constituents are counting on. The governor has every opportunity to do the right thing and keep his word and be an honest broker in this process."

Republicans say that there will also be an additional $792 million in base revenue for FY 2022.