Rockford Sun

State Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) saw a link between Gov. J.B. Pritzker's budget proposal and the day it was delivered.

“How appropriate that this Governor presented his assessment of Illinois and his plan for the upcoming budget on Groundhog Day,” Stewart  said in a post to Facebook. “His speech was full of hope for sunshine but did not acknowledge the shadows of more fiscal winter looming.”

Pritzker’s new $45 billion spending plan calls for up to $300 in property tax rebates, suspending the grocery sales tax for a year and setting aside as much as $500 million for the state’s long-troubled pension system while adding spending for education and health care.

With inflation rates soaring as much as at any time in recent history, Stewart argues Pritzker’s plan falls far short of providing the kind of assistance many are in need of.

“What Illinoisans need are long-term solutions, not election-year gimmicks,” he said in a post to his website. “We need to hear more about sustainable revenues from a strong Illinois economy, not just using one-time revenues from the federal government. Senate Republicans have offered well-thought-out plans for fiscal stability, much-needed and long-overdue ethics reform and a plan targeting violent crime and offering a critical lifeline to law enforcement efforts.”

Stewart said the situation is only made more troubling based on the governor’s partisan nature.

“Any system of government should be open to bipartisan review and cooperation, but Gov. Pritzker has gone it alone from day one,” he said. “So, it is not surprising we did not hear a more thorough assessment of the problems that still plague our state.”

Fiscal Year 2023 runs from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023