Kane County Reporter

In a May 30 Facebook post, Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington) reacted to the recently-passed budget and rising costs in Illinois.

“Why is everything costing so much more these days,” he wrote on Facebook. “The simple answer is the Government, both Federal and State, is spending more than they receive in taxes.”

In his Facebook post, McLaughlin shared a link to a news release with a more extensive statement.

“Here are five priorities that I wanted to see addressed in this Budget, but of course none of these ended up within the hyper-partisan budget; Invest in Kids: Economically disadvantaged students will see their scholarships eliminated at the end of the calendar year due to Democrats’ inaction on the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship fund; Lower business regulation: To incentivize new businesses and investment in Illinois; Estate Tax: Small farms and businesses will continue to be punished by the state’s overly burdensome estate tax; R&D Tax Credit: Communities, which would stand to benefit from major investment from businesses, are clamoring for a larger R&D tax credit, but you will not find it in the Democrats’ budget; Developmentally Disabled: The developmentally disabled population and those who have been waiting for years on the PUNS list, because there is a staff shortage due to the abysmal pay these workers receive, will have to wait even longer. Illinois has been the worst state in the nation for helping the developmentally disabled for decades.”

The proposed budget and the budget-in-brief document, released on Feb. 15, touted improvements in the state’s financial situation – a $1.9 billion Rainy Day Fund balance, and pension liability reductions, including a savings of $4 billion. The proposed budget was $49.6 billion. The proposed budget is available here.

Senate Democrats passed the budget on May 25 and sent it to the House of Representatives. While Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, there was Republican input into the budget negotiation process, which Republican legislators appreciated, according to WAND TV.

“One bright spot this session was the bipartisan support for behavioral and mental health investment in our state that has been sorely needed and hopefully will have a positive impact in education and public safety," McLaughlin said in his press release.