McHenry Times

Republican state Rep. Steve Reick is challenging Gov. J.B. Pritzker over Illinois' obligation to pay off Unemployment Trust funds rather than simply hoping that the federal government will forgive the debt.

According to a release by Reick, the state has received upwards of $8 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the federal government. On May 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released guidance specifying that states could use ARPA money to restore their unemployment funds to pre-pandemic levels, and many states did just that. 

Pritzker committed $100 million.

“The governor is slow-walking the state’s obligation to repay its Unemployment Trust Fund debt to the Federal government at a cost to you of $300,000 per day, hoping that the Feds will forgive the debt without using ARPA funds to do so,” Reick posted on Facebook. “Any ARPA money he’s using to prop up programs funded by General Revenue will then become part of the next budget year’s baseline.”

Interest on the state's $4.4 billion deficit began accruing on Sept. 1 and totaled nearly $9 million as of Nov. 1. 

“In April, I was appointed to be a representative of the House Republican caucus on an 'Agreed Bill Committee,' which is a device used by labor and the business community during negotiations over the critical issue of Unemployment Insurance,” Reick continued in the release. “By that process, business and labor agree that they will not propose legislation dealing with tax increases or benefit cuts to the unemployment system until both sides have fully negotiated a settlement of the issue. It would then be my role, along with the other members of the Committee to put its stamp of approval on the agreement and work to pass the legislation through the House.”

Reick has also been in the news lately as he's spoken out against maps created in the redistricting process, as he did in July, when he stated that he and his colleagues should not be voting due to knee-jerk reaction, but should be voting their consciences, because that's what voters expect, according to the McHenry Times.

“It’s important to understand the state constitution provides that by June 30 if we’re not able to come to a legislative understanding what the map is going to be, we are in a position to have a commission that’s appointed with four members from legislature, four non-members and a ninth member chosen by draw,” Reick said during a recent House hearing on the matter. “It also provides the ability for there to be court challenges, but the Supreme Court is not in a position to overturn what the Constitution tells us in the process to doing these maps.”

In April, the McHenry Times reported, Reick had fought against changing the way voters are counted. He suggested that Democrats slow down the redistricting process if it would make the process fairer, and proposed that the redistricting commission included in the state's constitution be a good solution.

“To say we should be going to American Community Survey or some other form of data is nothing more than an attempt on behalf of the majority that runs this show to avoid the possibility of getting a 50-50 draw and losing it at the end of the process,” he added. “I think we’ve been in court three or four times already on the fact that we haven’t been able to draw the maps by June 30. There’s a process in place and we shouldn’t try to change the means by which we count people in these districts simply because it’s inconvenient.”