From State Rep. Dan Ugasta:
Watch Your Wallet as End of Spring Session Nears
Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, Deputy Leader Norine Hammond and Deputy Leader Ryan Spain held a press conference Thursday to call for structural reform and preview the end of the spring legislative session, as the FY26 Budget deadline looms near.
With several new tax proposals introduced in the last week, the lawmakers raised the alarm for Illinoisans.
Representative Spain warned Illinoisans to watch their wallets and declared House Republicans would stand as a blockade to fight Democrat tax increases.
With 7 days left in the spring legislative session, there are many important issues to address.
Here’s what Illinoisans are facing:
- No relief for Illinoisans who are being crushed by our state’s burdensome tax rates.
- Spending taxpayer dollars on health benefits for illegal immigrants while our most vulnerable citizens struggle.
- “Green” energy policies costing residents in rate hikes, causing job losses, and shorting energy generation capacity in Illinois.
- Public safety failures due to the broken SAFE-T Act putting Illinois communities at risk.
- A lack of ethics reforms that are desperately needed to end public corruption in Illinois.
Democrats think more revenue is the answer to all our problems. The truth is, without structural reforms, that revenue will be wasted and our residents will continue to struggle.
House Republicans will serve as a shield for taxpayers and a source of truth for the people of Illinois throughout this budget season and beyond, will not support a budget with ANY tax hikes and will continue to expose bad policy put forth by the majority party.
Rather than cut spending, Democrats push billions in tax hikes to fill budget hole.
With one week to go before the May 31st deadline, Governor JB Pritzker and the Democratic majority are preparing to pass the largest budget in state history.
$55.2 billion, nearly $2 billion more than last year and another record-breaking spending level.
Since Gov. Pritzker took office in 2019, state spending has increased by more than $15 billion ($40 billion to $55.2 billion), a 38% increase in spending.
Illinois is facing a billion-dollar budget deficit for FY 26.
Rather than cut wasteful spending, the Democrats’ solution appears to be more taxes!
From resurrecting their failed progressive income tax hike, to the highest service tax in the country, Democrat discussions would take more money from your pocket to pay for their out-of-control spending.
The Illinois Revenue Alliance, aka the “Tax-and-Spend Alliance,” recently presented a list of tax hikes that would raise taxes by $6 billion.
$6 billion in new taxes!
All to pay for
- taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants,
- more pork projects for Democrats, and
- more wasteful spending.
These tax hikes would further damage our economy and drive up the tax burden and cost of living for Illinois families.
During Governor Pritzker’s tenure, over $3 billion has been spent on services for migrants and illegal immigrants, while services for our most vulnerable citizens remain chronically underfunded and underserved.
The truth is… the sanctuary state policy has cost Illinois taxpayers billions and made our communities less safe.
With over half-a-million illegal immigrants in Illinois, we should be working with the Administration in Washington to deport dangerous criminal aliens. It’s time to end Illinois’ sanctuary state policy!
As we approach the end of session, House Republicans are focused on passing a balanced budget that prioritizes the needs of Illinois families over illegal immigrants.
And we will continue to stand with hardworking families against any attempt to increase their taxes.
