SPRINGFIELD – State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) says Illinoisans will be paying nearly $1 billion in higher taxes in the coming year to help pay for a crisis of Gov. JB Pritzker’s making – supporting thousands of noncitizens he invited to Illinois.

The Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2025 budget by a 38-21 vote May 26, with no Republican Caucus members supporting it. It now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“Gov. Pritzker has made it abundantly clear that Illinoisans are not his priority. They are, rather, a source of tax dollars he returns to again and again – this year, to pay for a record-setting $53 billion budget. This year, he has raised our taxes by nearly $1 billion to pay for the thousands of noncitizens that have come to Illinois at his invitation,” Tracy said. “Pritzker continues to focus on free healthcare, housing, and social services for noncitizens, when his budget priorities should be Illinoisans and their families.”

Tracy says such record-high spending puts Illinois’ fiscal future in jeopardy.

“In the last couple years, this kind of over-the-top spending was only possible with the help of billions of federal tax dollars. That fiscal picture has changed, but Democratic leaders continue their economic gluttony,” Tracy said. “When was the last time they actually tailored their spending to the available revenues, instead of increasing taxes to spend more and more? By any financial standard, these tax-and-spend sprees are not sustainable.”

Attempts to work with Democrat leaders to pass a responsible budget this spring were not successful, but Tracy says Senate Republicans will continue to support the kind of business and government reforms needed to boost Illinois’ economy and jobs.

Fiscal Year 2025 runs from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.