COVER STORY
About our state budget
Now that the new fiscal year has begun, I wanted to take a couple minutes and explain my votes on the state budget bills. As you may already know, I voted against the revenue bill and in favor of the other bills in the package – the $53 billion budget itself and the budget implementation bill (“BIMP”), which gives the State the power to actually spend the money in the budget.
My “No” vote on the revenue bill was really an expression of my opposition to the way our state budget is developed and passed each year. As legislators, we have a responsibility to our constituents to make sure their tax dollars are being spent wisely and well. The current process simply doesn’t give us a real opportunity to raise our concerns about budget specifics and offer alternatives for both revenues and spending.
This year, we wound up passing the budget at 4:30 in the morning, after a long and often confusing night of parliamentary maneuvers. That’s just no way to make serious fiscal decisions that affect every person who lives in our state.
Despite my misgivings, I chose to vote in favor of the budget itself because it reflects so many of my own priorities and the priorities of the people I serve – investments in public education, in public safety, in mental health services, in childcare, in community colleges, in care for our seniors, and in economic development throughout Illinois. I was especially pleased that this budget continues the great progress that we have made in putting our state on a solid fiscal foundation, as proven by our nine credit upgrades over the past five years. I also voted for the budget implementation bill because I still remember the devastating impacts of then-Governor Rauner’s refusal to implement a full state budget for 793 excruciating days.
I knew when I voted against the revenue bill that the budget package was going to pass, with or without a green “Y” next to my name on the board. But I believe that your vote is your voice, whether you’re at the ballot box or on the House floor. By voting “No” on that bill, I was making a statement that we need to change the way we pass our state budget. The people of Illinois deserve better.