South Central Reporter

Illinois state Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) took to Facebook recently to voice her concerns about the budget for fiscal 2023-24, which was passed mostly along party lines.

"A half hour before midnight, Illinois Senate Democrats passed a partisan budget for FY24," Bryant said in the May 26 Facebook post shortly after the budget passed. "I spoke out against their backwards priorities that do not put Illinoisans first."

Gov. JB Pritzker announced the budget deal on May 24, saying it was a collaborative effort, a WCIA report said.

"I vowed to work with the General Assembly to bring fiscal sanity to Illinois while restoring a compassionate state government that invests in the things that build a stronger economy and future,” the governor said in the report. “I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what this balanced budget does, for the fifth time in a row.”

ABC 7 reported late on May 26 that the budget—which is slightly larger than Pritzker’s February proposal—passed the Senate and had moved to the House. In addition to Bryant, who shared her speech about the budget in her Facebook post, other Republicans also disagreed with the plan. 

Senate Republican Leader John Curran (Downers Grove) said the inclusion of Republicans in negotiations was "a step forward in our working relationships across the aisle for the betterment of the people of Illinois," ABC 7 reported. But he rejected the budget as an expansion of government.

"A few Senate Republican priorities - really some joint priorities - are reflected in this budget," Curran said. "However, what matters to the people of Illinois [is] not the process, but the product. As you will see by the uniform 'no' votes from our caucus, this final product does not reflect the entire state of Illinois."

In her speech on the Senate floor, Bryant criticized Democrats for the allocation of funding for noncitizens.

“I do think that when we are putting budgets together, priorities are important," she said. “Now I made one issue a priority for me this past year because I wanted to understand better how certain money was being spent. One of those areas was on the immigrant welcoming centers."

Bryant noted that $110 million was going to the welcome centers, including money being given directly to noncitizens. That was in addition to the $40.2 million going to Chicago for asylum seekers after the city was named a sanctuary city.

She also added that Pritzker had "chosen not to make the DD [developmentally disabled] community a priority for this state,...because the money wasn’t set aside" to do so.

Bryant said that $4 an hour was what was needed to support individuals with developmental disabilities.

"Instead, at this point, they’re supposed to stand back and be happy for the $2.50 they’re going to get," she said.

Ordinarily, legislation to protect those individuals might not appear on the General Assembly's radar, but it was made a priority this year.

"[Priorities] say a lot about who we are and about where we put the things that matter to us," Bryant said. "I’m sad. I’m sad that money isn’t going to the DD community that should have gone there. I urge a no vote.”