Sangamon Sun

Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly have approved a $55.2 billion state budget, marking another year of near-record spending. The decision was made with just one day for review, leading to criticism from Republican lawmakers. State Representative Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington) opposed the budget, citing concerns over increased state expenditure.

McLaughlin stated, "Another year, another state budget with near record spending forced on our families and businesses by legislative Democrats and Governor Pritzker. In the six years this governor has been in office we have been forced to fund more than $15 billion in additional state spending."

He further expressed his dissatisfaction with the exclusion of Republicans from the budget process: "Republicans were again completely excluded from the budget process despite a group of us offering our own plan that trimmed billions in wasteful and unnecessary spending. Instead, Democrats passed a plan with another billion in tax hikes! Tax, spend, repeat. That’s the Democrats’ budget philosophy in Illinois."