Republican House floor leader Mark Batinick (Plainfield) takes some solace in the resistance his party put up against the state’s new $40 billion spending plan.
“While some Republicans voted for this plan, most of us voted against it and most of us thought it spends too much money,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “Plus, we all agree we don’t need another income tax and we all thought this wasn’t lean enough. Hopefully, voters will remember all of that.”
Led by their overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the legislature, Democrats easily passed a plan that critics like Batinick are quick to point out pushes taxes higher and borrows more just to hold things together.
State Rep. Mark Batinick
“Granted, I’m more concerned about the $3.5 billion constitutional amendment they’re pushing as part of the progressive tax plan, nothing about this plan helps taxpayers,” Batinick said. “All I can say is at least we won’t skip a pension payment like they were talking about, but that’s only because of the way things are going at the federal level.”
The new plan, which also raises funding for education and kicks in an additional $50 million in funding for the Department of Children and Family Services, is slated to take effect at the start of the new budget year on July 1.
Batinick does not think all the continued spending is in the state’s long-term best interest.
“We’ve got to get focused on providing government services more efficiently,” he said. “We need to concentrate on decreasing the burden on taxpayers and businesses. I guess you could argue the stability of having a budget in place for the last couple years is a good thing, but really this plan does nothing to stem the tide of all the people now looking to get out of Illinois.”
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