Rep. Wheeler on fatal flaw in Democrats’ state budget
5 Video Views·Apr 11, 2022
State Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, speaks during debate on the FY23 state budget about the majority party’s failure to pay off the remaining $1.8 billion debt in the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) Trust Fund. Instead, House Democrats spent billions in federal assistance from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) on pet projects in their districts. As a result, every small business, not-for-profit organization and unemployed worker in Illinois will pay the price for the remaining debt Democrats have ignored.
We're going to hear a lot about all the wonderful things that the Democrats have put in this
budget.
I want to talk about one thing that's not in this budget.
What's not in this budget is the $1.8 billion in outstanding debt that the UI Trust Fund
should have been paid with.
We're bragging about the best budget in years.
We hear our credit ratings upgrades are imminent.
The majority party has had every opportunity to fully pay off the remaining $1.8 billion
deficit in the UI Trust Fund with free money from the federal government.
Instead, Democrat-led projects are prioritized over every small business, every not-for-profit
in the state of Illinois, along with unemployed workers who deserve help coming out of this
pandemic.
So this so-called fiscal responsibility and balanced budget somehow doesn't conveniently
consider the $1.8 billion that they're leaving on the heads of every small business, every
not-for-profit, and every unemployed worker in the coming months.
Please vote no.