Will County Gazette

Illinois State Senator John Curran recently voiced his criticism over the newly signed $50.6 billion fiscal year 2024 budget, pointing out a bevy of aspects in the plan that he says Republican lawmakers oppose and have fought to keep from being part of the plan.

Curran said there are some joint priorities in the budget, such as education and supporting developmentally disabled people. However, he said this is not enough.

“Unfortunately, these positives pale in comparison to the Governor’s insistence on Illinois being the only state in the nation to provide no-strings-attached health care for non-citizens at a cost of $1.1 billion," Curran said in a post to his website. "The budget assumes the Governor will slash the cost of the program in half and provide no raises in A.F.S.C.M.E contract negotiations, among other gimmicks, in order to appear balanced on paper. This is simply not true.”

According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, this budget plan includes a 5% raise for lawmakers. This is the maximum increase allowed, and it assures that lawmakers will now make $89,250 in the budget year beginning on July 1. This is the second pay increase included in the last two budgets.

The Chicago Tribune report added that Gov. Pritzker also set aside $250 million for the “Smart Start Illinois” initiative. This program focuses on improving access to child care and early childhood education. These are parts of his overall plan he has pointed out as being critical.

“The Governor’s choice to pay for this entirely state-funded free health care program for undocumented people over any meaningful investment in our business community highlights the stark contrast between our priorities,” Curran said on his website. “From energy rate and property tax relief to the full phase-out of the franchise tax that was already promised and taken away by Gov. Pritzker, Senate Republican initiatives for growing jobs and job creators were ignored in favor of more social spending. It is alarming to me, and job creators everywhere, that the largest budget in Illinois history does not even attempt to improve our business climate at a time when so many people are leaving our state.”