Illinois Valley Times

State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) asked for a balanced budget days before Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives his annual budget address.

Demmer said that “by law, it’s required to be balanced.”

“It’s required to both propose an estimate of how much the state expects to collect in the upcoming year as well as where those dollars will be spent,” and learn from what we saw from last year’s state budget, he added.

Demmer raised that there is a credibility problem with the budget messaging coming out of the governor’s office and he suggested that there is a need to rebuild credibility.

“The way to do that is by having public meetings where department heads, agency directors come before the legislature, answer questions, provide information about their budgets, ideas, asking suggestions that would help the state balance the budget that would respect taxpayers.”

He encouraged the leaders to re-engage their roles as a co-equal branch of government to provide the kinds of checks and balances that the people of Illinois expect.

The Deputy House Republican Leader said that the caucus is ready to sit down for a discussion and create a “balanced budget that will put the state on a more stable footing in the upcoming fiscal year.”