Chambana Sun

In an April 10 Facebook post, Rep. Adam Niemerg urged financial relief for Illinois residents.

“The most basic rule of budgeting is that you can't spend more than you take in,” he wrote. “Instead of following this simple principle, Democrats have been "balancing" their out-of-control spending by raising taxes. Our residents deserve relief. It's time to rein in state spending, get our fiscal house in order, and finally reduce taxes in Illinois. ANALYSIS: Report suggests state spending will soon begin outpacing revenues once again.”

WIFR reported the House of Representatives voted on the $46.5 billion budget just before April 9.

In his Facebook post, Neimerg shared a link to a report by Capitol News Illinois, which suggested that there wouldn't be enough revenue soon to keep up with state spending. According to Capitol News Illinois, "In the highest-spending scenario outlined in the three-year forecast from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the state could once again face a bill backlog as high as $18 billion. That estimate assumes spending growth at its five-year average of 7.1 percent. If the state keeps spending growth at 1.8 percent – the most austere scenario outlined by the commission – it could maintain an accounts payable balance of $1.4 billion, the same as it was at the end of Fiscal Year 2022."

the balance money wrote the Tax Policy Center noted the 45th United State President’s tax cuts may add $1 to $2 trillion to the deficit.

On Feb. 15, 2023, Niemerg spoke out against Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024. He said: "This governor proposes no significant structural changes to our spending pressures under this budget. No permanent property tax relief has been extended, and no regulatory relief has been implemented. His priorities are his ‘woke wish list’ which includes expanding abortions in Illinois and enticing women and girls from other states to come to Illinois for abortions. Everyone can see how poorly run state programs are: our child welfare agency, veterans’ home disease outbreaks, and abuse and neglect at facilities for the developmentally disabled are but a few recent examples under the Pritzker Administration. Each of these situations has ended with tragic results. My Republican colleagues and I are here to work. We want to make reforms to state government to fund our shared priorities and keep the government functioning effectively by living within our means. But that doesn’t mean that Republicans will be willing accomplices in setting up residents for tax hikes to fund new social programs and spending we cannot afford.”

Illinois Republicans championed opinions against Pritzker’s signing of the 2023 Fiscal Budget. Within the budget, the state will give $350 million to K-12 public schools.

“We’ve achieved our state’s strongest fiscal position in generations, and we prioritized the education, public safety, health, and welfare of the residents of Illinois,” Pritzker said to Chalkbeat Chicago.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability modeled four scenarios, and each showed that the state will spend more money than it takes in over the next three years. Deficit estimates vary between $500 million and $9.1 billion by 2026.