CHICAGO, Ill. – A Peoria lawmaker had more of a hand in the coming fiscal year’s state budget than just wanting some things funded.
State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth was the lead “budgeteer” — as they’re called — in the Illinois House for the Democrat side of the aisle.
She was on hand when Governor JB Pritzker signed the spending plan into law Wednesday in Chicago.
“As a mom, you learn to balance the checkbook every single day,” said Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria). “As a mom that’s balancing the checkbook, one of the things that you clearly understand is that you have to do the most that you have, with what you have. And that doesn’t mean that everybody gets everything, but everybody gets what they need.”
Gordon-Booth cited, for example, state funding for youth to have summer jobs, among other initiatives.
“We were able to provide resources to some of the most important areas of the State of Illinois, in terms of moving the state forward,” said Gordon-Booth. “We’ve been able to invest transformational dollars in terms of economic development, as well as community development.”
Gordon-Booth was the first African-American female in the state’s history to be a lead budget negotiator for House Democrats.
Republicans representing the Tri-County area, however, are still registering their displeasure.
State Senator Win Stoller, claims the Governor balanced the budget through what he calls “fiscal gimmicks and tricks that Illinoisans are sick and tired of in order to make his claims,” said Stoller (R-Germantown Hills, in a prepared statement. “This budget doesn’t account for this year’s upcoming contract negotiations with AFSCME, which will likely add hundreds of millions to our state’s spending. Additionally, this budget somehow ignores over half of a billion dollars that was projected to be spent on the state’s ill-conceived undocumented immigrant healthcare program.
“Without question, this budget will be anything from balanced by the end of our fiscal year, and the Governor claiming otherwise is dishonest.”
State Senator Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) says the budget “did not match the priorities that would best serve the people of Illinois.”
“There are some good things in there, but we have forgotten about some significant people in Illinois,” said Bennett “We need proper funding for services for the state’s developmentally disabled community, rebates for downstate families facing high utility costs, continuing a scholarship program which helps children in failing school districts to attend better performing schools, encouraging business and job growth by eliminating the much-criticized franchise tax, and helping to protect family farms for future generations.
“Instead, taxpayers will be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to cover free top-tier healthcare for undocumented immigrants and hundreds of millions more in pork projects for Democratic districts.”
