House Republican leaders stated Monday they be expecting their Democratic colleagues to “sneak” a tax building up into the General Assembly’s looming lame duck consultation, a declare a Democratic chief stated was once not anything greater than “politics as usual.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, along side Deputy Republican leaders Tom Demmer of Dixon and Dan Brady of Bloomington, stated in a digital information convention Monday morning that state Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. J.B. Pritzker “own this budget mess and its errors” after passing the cheap that hinged at the passage of a transfer to a graduated source of revenue tax charge.
“They refused to listen to our warnings over and over again, and now, after voters just sent the Democrats a message, Madigan and his cohorts will be trying to sneak a tax increase … into the lame duck session,” Durkin stated.
That transfer to a graduated source of revenue tax did not go in November and Pritzker warned on the time “there will be cuts. And they will be painful.”
Asked about his personal proposed cuts to the price range, Durkin didn’t supply ideas as a result of he nonetheless hasn’t noticed a listing of cuts Pritzker requested companies to make in 2019. He needs first of all that checklist when proposing new cuts, he stated.
A spokeswoman for Pritzker didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Demmer stated the appropriations committees of the House and the Senate must meet and usher in company administrators and leaders within the state’s government department to peer what concepts they’ve shared with the governor about attainable cuts to their price range as a kick off point for speaking concerning the state’s budget.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, left, and state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, ultimate yr.Neal Earley/Sun-Times report
“We need to understand what the options are, and hear directly from individuals who are responsible for carrying out the budgets, what options exist,” Demmer stated. “The Legislature needs to be involved in this. This is no longer a situation where one person can govern. We need to work on this together, and the way to do that is by convening appropriations committees to hear directly from the people responsible for this.”
State House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, stated the GOP information convention was once simply “politics as usual.”
“I have not heard of any tax increase proposals,” Harris stated, including that Republicans are following “their traditional path” of claiming there must be price range cuts although they’re now not proposing any cuts of their very own.
House Majority Leader Greg Harris ultimate yr.Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times report
A possible tax building up coming earlier than legislators was once floated via Madigan ultimate month right through a discussion board with the Black Caucus designed to shore up the Southwest Side Democrat’s bid for some other time period as speaker.
Madigan stated on the time that he’s ready to vote for an building up within the state’s flat source of revenue tax charge, a vote he stated is “very possible” given the state’s fiscal quandary.
Last month, Pritzker licensed $711 million in price range cuts in workplaces beneath his keep watch over for the 2021 fiscal yr as a part of an try to shut a just about $Four billion price range hole.
In November, the state’s Office of Management and Budget projected “sizeable deficits” within the state’s long term, starting from $4.eight billion in fiscal yr 2022 to $4.2 billion via fiscal yr 2026, in step with a document from that place of work at the state’s financial and financial coverage.
The House is slated to satisfy beginning Friday for its lame duck consultation forward of the swearing in of newly elected and re-elected contributors on Jan. 13.
Legislators to begin with deliberate to satisfy in past due November and early December for his or her fall veto consultation however determined towards assembly in individual because of considerations round emerging COVID-19 case numbers and upcoming vacations.