State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) released the following statement after Governor JB Pritzker signed into law his Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget:
“No matter what the governor and his Democrat allies say, this budget is another unbalanced plan to spend taxpayer dollars on a host of programs that the State of Illinois cannot afford. While families are struggling with inflationary prices on food, fuel, and everyday costs of living, the Governor cannot find in his $50 billion spending plan to give a real wage increase for the workers who help our most vulnerable and disabled, yet he can give another pay raise to politicians and $550 million for illegals’ healthcare. The real price tag for that healthcare cost is estimated at least to be $1.1 billion, so the Governor is granted authority to disperse the other half out of the budget later.
This legislation also takes away funding for after school programs and ends the successful and popular ‘Invest in Kids’ tuition tax credit program with 9,700 students currently able to get a better education in Illinois at a private or parochial school and another 22,000 students and families on the waiting list to get an opportunity for a better education. The Governor’s priorities are out of step with regular, hard-working families across Illinois.”