Rockford Sun

Rep. Tom Demmer claims that Democrats have wasted away federal dollars on pork projects.

Demmer pointed out that the FY 2023 budget is nothing but filled with gimmicks and has only set up Illinoisans on a path whereby they will be paying higher taxes in the future.

"The state has no ability now to tie that to any performance metric, to try and reach any specific goal with it. It just says to go to operations. There's no oversight, there's no check and there is no balance. These are the kind of budget games that Illinoisans are rightfully cynical about. This is what happens when a budget gets put together at the last minute and passed in the middle of the night. Democrats needed to include this kind of pork in order to buy off the votes they need to ram through another partisan and gimmick-filled budget. I think Illinoisans should rightfully ask do we want the Illinois government to be set up for an inevitable tax increase in the future at a time of record inflation across the country? Is it wise to spend taxpayer dollars on pork projects used to buy off votes from members? I think most Illinoisans would say no," said Demmer.

Republicans have been critical of the budget for Fiscal Year 2023 that Democrats put together and they have been vocal from the start about how it has neglected the needs of the common man.

"Today, Democrats passed a budget focused more on the upcoming election than the needs and responsibilities of the State. They wrote a bill to delay their gas tax increase, conveniently until after the election. They included delayed tax increases on businesses and cuts in unemployment benefits, conveniently until after the election. These taxes will be increased; the Democrats just wanted to ensure that it didn't happen before the election. This budget includes $1.6 billion in pork projects in Democrat-only legislative districts. These include all sorts of things like a 'pilot program' for a guaranteed minimum income for women in East St. Louis. This and all of the other projects amount to election-year bribes for their re-election, paid for by all Illinois taxpayers," Assistant Republican Leader CD Davidsmeyer said, WRSP reported.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy also spoke on the budget saying, "Instead of permanent solutions for working families like real tax cuts and reduced spending, Democrats passed temporary election-year gimmicks, a massive increase in spending, and pay raises for politicians. In the face of record inflation and a crushing tax burden, Democrats gave taxpayers a handful of candy and told them to suck it up. They failed to provide real relief to taxpayers and all but guaranteed tax increases when the federal bailout money goes away."