Illinois Valley Times

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said residents deserve more from the $42 billion state budget Gov. J.B. Pritzker is now proposing.

"The governor just presented a budget that is $1.7 billion out-of-balance and is based on $1.5 billion in nonexistent revenue," Rezin said in a statement after Pritzker made his budget announcement in a pre-recorded speech from the Illinois State Fairgrounds. "We owe it to the families and businesses of Illinois to sit down and make difficult decisions that will enable the fiscal turnout of our state and put us on a path of economic prosperity that will benefit middle-class families."

While the governor's plan didn't add new taxes, it seeks to interject cuts of approximately $1 billion in business tax breaks as a way of balancing state spending in the face of the lingering pandemic.

The governor's 2022 general fund budget includes nearly $2 billion less in spending than the previous cycle, with the dip in spending born of cuts to appropriations, a hiring freeze, flat operational spending, full required pension payments, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes.

With Illinois Policy Institute reporting a $3.9 billion budget deficit this year, a $4.8 billion gap for next fiscal year and a $4.7 billion hole for the fiscal year 2023, Pritzker took pains to place all the blame for the shortcomings at the foot of republicans who dared to reject his earlier proposed progressive tax.

Amid all the back and forth, Rezin made it a point to also try to see the positive.

"I appreciate Gov. Pritzker recognizing the importance of nuclear in his budget address," she said. "As we see in Texas, having a reliable and sustainable source of power in the state's energy portfolio is critical during extreme weather conditions, which only proves the fact that Illinois needs nuclear now more than ever."