Prairie State Wire

Gov. J. B. Pritzker's budget proposal for the Fiscal Year 2022 has been slammed for being unbalanced and relies on new tax increases for small businesses.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy said that the proposed budget is, “riddled with accounting gimmicks, spends the same record amount as last year at the same time cutting funding for public schools, eliminating scholarships for poor children, and hiking taxes on small businesses.”

This new proposal comes after last November's income tax initiatives failed to pass.

“Spurned by the progressive tax defeat last November, Gov. Pritzker is taking his anger out on the people of Illinois with his latest budget proposal,” Tracy said.

While claiming that it is $1.8 billion less than FY 2021, his new budget will severely affect small businesses which have failed during the pandemic, families who have had their members lose jobs, and students who struggled to continue with their education remotely.

“Other than front-line healthcare workers, no one has sacrificed more during the pandemic than small business owners and our school-age children. This budget hits them the hardest. It’s quite simple - Pritzker is a sore loser who has proposed a truly nasty budget.”

The budget proposal also did not include a plan on how to pay off the state's debts which continue to grow each year, and includes pensions, retirement costs, and retiree healthcare.