This Week in Springfield!
Legislative Update:
Rep. Marron Votes No on Partisan, Out-of-Whack FY24 Budget
SPRINGFIELD… State Representative Mike Marron (R-Fithian) released the following statement after voting No on the House Democrats out of balance partisan budget at 3:00 am Saturday morning.
“First, this budget, despite what the Governor and Democratic leaders tell you, is not balanced. Last year, at the end of session, the General Assembly decided to create a program for free health care for undocumented immigrants.
“The proposed $550 million in this budget is understating the liability by half. In actuality, the real cost is estimated to be at least $1.1 billion, creating a significant hole in this budget right off the top.
“The democrats of Illinois showed the people their true colors over the last three years. Increasing legislative pay over 25%, spending 25% more on this next budget then we did when I started 5 years ago, and resorting to the ol’ Madigan playbook of hiding taxes and fees in special budget tricks masking the true costs of their spending for months.
“This budget excludes a means to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in pay increases that hard working union employees are scheduled to receive in the upcoming fiscal year. This not only puts another gap in the FY 24 budget, it also fails to define how we intend to take care of our state employees.
“This budget will make up for a severe revenue shortfall by taking $700 million from local governments by decreasing Personal Property Replacement Tax disbursements. At a time when we continue to push unfunded mandates onto local governments and demand more and more of them, we are cutting their revenue stream and all because we decided to promise to spend money from tax revenues that never materialized.
“The second main reason to oppose this budget is that it places a burden on the taxpayers of the State. The Governor has run around Illinois for the last two years selling a bill of goods about being fiscally responsible, all the while failing to acknowledge the real reason for the brief improvement in our fiscal situation.
“That reason has always been increased revenues due to the massive inflation that our citizens are experiencing. Two things are undeniably true about our current inflation-fueled situation; one, while inflation has increased our revenues, it has also increased our expenses, which we continue to fail to account for.
“The chickens will soon be coming home to roost for neglecting that fact and the consequences will be bad for the taxpayers of Illinois.
“The second truth is that while we have enjoyed increased revenues to the treasury, it has happened on the backs of hard-working Illinoisans through a significant increase in their cost of living, food, and energy prices. Now, when our citizens continue under increasing pressure of higher prices, we are lapsing the $1 billion in tax breaks that we passed last year, greatly adding to the price pressure on things like food, medicine, and fuel.
“Illinois does not have a revenue problem yet, but after this legislative session, we are giving a huge Closed for Business message to all of our employers. Soon Illinois will have both a revenue problem and spending addiction that will destroy our state.
“It is time to stop playing these partisan games and actually get a handle on our spending. We need budget reforms now, and we must start working through this insatiable addiction to spending beyond our means and taxing our citizens out of this state.”
Marron Responds to Reporters Question on the ISBE funding flop
Rep. Marron joined House Republican Leaders McCombie and Hammond in a press conference today to discuss their disappointment in another partisan budget. This budget is not balanced and includes huge funding holes on vital programs like the after-school resources we utilize here in Vermilion County that will now have to shutter.
| Press Conference with Leaders McCombie, Hammond, and Marron |
“ISBE has admitted their fault on this. That agency is hand-picked by Governor Pritzker. His lack of accountability on this issue continues to be astounding and an incredible disservice to downstate taxpayers. He is choosing to continue to shortchange us and undercut promises—all the while introducing a $50.6 billion dollar spending plan that includes $18million in ISBE dollars for Democrat pet projects; funds that could instead be used to cover existing promises he made.
The ESSER funds his office claims “fix” this problem equate to federal COVID relief dollars that have already been allocated and dedicated in each school district. His only other answer to this issue is to raise local taxes to cover the tab.
In short, this comes down to state agency mismanagement, a lack of accountability, and bad budgeting. When you have an opportunity to fix a problem, Illinois taxpayers deserve solutions.”
Hot Topic of the Week:
Representative Marron is pleased to host an Energy Efficiency Roundtable in collaboration with Vermilion Advantage and the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center on May 31st, 2023 at 2:00 pm.
This presentation will offer the Vermilion County business community an opportunity to learn about the multiple energy programs available to them and how best to navigate the process of lowering out of pocket expenses. The goal is lower costs while instituting energy efficient strategies and solutions unique to your business needs. The presenter, Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), is not a third party consultant. We encourage you to attend this event at no cost to you. Register today to learn more!
When: May 31st, 2023
Where: DACC Bremer Theatre: 2000 East Main Street, Danville, IL, USA
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Presenter: Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC) – https://smartenergy.illinois.edu/
Marron Happy To See Blue Collar Jobs Act Finally Implemented After Four Years
State Representative Mike Marron (R-Fithian) was one of the original sponsors of the legislation and said he is extremely happy the jobs act is finally being implemented. “This legislation is great example of bringing bi-partisan solutions to aid our business community in bringing great jobs to the State.”
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