Following Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State and budget address last week, Illinois Republicans, though disheartened by some of his remarks, plan to cooperate with Democrats to balance the budget with tax cuts, reduce government spending, and support President Donald Trump’s migrant policies.
Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, said many Republicans felt Pritzker’s verbal attacks on Trump and Elon Musk, references to Nazis, and calling Pritzker’s detractors “backseat bellyachers” was “utterly disrespectful.”
Some Republicans were also concerned about Pritzker’s failure to fully discuss the state’s deficit and the growing money issues brought on by waning pandemic relief funding. Particularly, they say they are worried about high taxes and the cost of living driving businesses and residents out of the state.
“We have among the highest property taxes in the whole country and need to have a property tax reform to give people a break,” said state Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield. “I did appreciate the fact that he says he’s going to cut back on the free health care for noncitizens because right now even our own citizens can’t afford health care. We have to have an environment that creates jobs, that keeps people here, that makes people want to come and live in Illinois.”
Proposed cuts to health care for migrants fall under the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) program, which provides medical coverage to adults ages 42-64 regardless of their immigration status. As of now, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services website states it is not accepting any new enrollment applications into the HBIA program.
Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Morrisonville, says he is “completely opposed” to Pritzker’s budget proposal, citing an additional $2 billion in spending to the already massive $3.2 billion deficit. In an official release reacting to the address, he criticized Pritzker for his spending on “illegal migrant programs” which “continues funding welcome shelters at taxpayers’ expense.”
“The governor’s proposed $55 billion budget is the largest in Illinois history – an unprecedented 38% increase since he took office. In addition to this massive spending, the budget is not balanced, leaving a $425 million deficit based on existing revenue numbers,” Rosenthal said in his written statement.
With a focus on illegal immigration and reducing financial support of residents from outside of Illinois and non-U.S. citizens within Illinois, McClure believes that acknowledging these issues, which align with President Trump’s initiatives, will help keep money within the state for Illinois residents first.
Despite Pritzker’s commentary – which included a line calling his opponents’ proposals “magic bean fixes,” Hammond and McClure say they look forward to cooperating with Democratic lawmakers.
“I think one of the things that as we go forward as a House and Senate is that we can find a way to work together,” said Hammond. “I think we’re going to have a lot of priorities that we can find common ground. If we can be respectful of each other, I think that that’s going to serve us well.”
Republicans say they hope for greater inclusion in budget talks and transparency in state spending. McClure cited past successes in talks with Democrats as hopeful evidence they’ll have a seat at the budget negotiation table.
“We had great negotiations the last couple of years with the Senate Democrats and we got some of our points put into the budget,” said McClure. “We want to be there at the end of the day to be able to represent our constituents for a truly balanced budget that gives our citizens some relief.”
Some Republicans praised Pritzker’s proposals to cut costs and consolidate departments. The governor recently issued an executive order combining the Division of Behavioral Health and the Division of Substance Abuse under the Department of Human Services. Government consolidation and cutbacks have been a hot topic in the news lately, with the Trump administration’s aggressive moves to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
“I think that we can begin to do more of that and see more government efficiencies and not just transparency…we’ll get a better bang for our buck,” said Hammond. “We won’t see all of his [Trump’s] policies implemented by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m just hopeful that if they are good policies and they are good for the state of Illinois, people won’t turn their noses up at them just because of who the author is.”
This article appears in The state of the state.
