MEDIA ALERT from the
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE

CONTACT: Melanie Krakauer (312) 607-4977

‘Status quo’ budget spares low-income scholarships, includes 4 of Pritzker’s 9 tax increases 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (June 1, 2021) — Pending a motion to reconsider the vote from Senate President Don Harmon, the Illinois General Assembly passed a $42.3 billion Fiscal Year 2022 budget in an early morning special session after the legislative deadline.

Adam Schuster, senior director of budget and tax research for the Illinois Policy Institute, offered the following statement:

“Lawmakers protected low-income students and dropped some small business tax hikes from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s attempts to balance the budget on their backs. This a win worth celebrating.

“The reality of what passed, however, is that this budget keeps us on the same path toward fiscal decline that the state has been on for decades. It’s the third ‘bridge’ budget of Pritzker’s term and similarly, it’s a status quo spending plan that does just enough to keep the lights on but doesn’t fix anything.

“This budget still includes four of the nine economically harmful tax hikes the governor proposed earlier this year. These business tax increases will mean Illinois’ struggling economy recovers less quickly than it otherwise would from COVID-19. Illinois’ deficits and structural imbalances will continue threatening taxpayers and vulnerable residents if nothing changes.”

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