Republicans Accuse Pritzker of “Feigning” Cuts for Tax Increase
Republicans say Governor JB Pritzker is blaming GOP lawmakers for proposed cuts because they opposed his graduated income tax constitutional amendment.
When Governor JB Pritzker proposed a round of cuts totaling a potential $711 million dollars Tuesday, he was quick to blame Republicans for the actions. Republicans, who are a super minority in both the House and Senate, all voted against the Democrat budget which was panned by many as being $5 billion out of balance.
The budget also included expected revenue from passage of the Governor’s proposed graduated income tax constitutional amendment, and a federal bailout. The tax amendment failed in November and lawmakers in Washington are resistant of added funds being sent to states.
Outgoing Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo), said Pritzker is unwilling to accept that both Republicans and Democrats voted against his graduated income tax amendment.
“Instead, Governor Pritzker decided to throw another tantrum blaming everyone but himself for the budget crisis facing the state. The real problem is his grossly irresponsible Fiscal Year 2021 budget in which he increased spending across the board while relying on graduated tax revenue and federal help that were never coming. Times of crisis are when real leaders step forward. Instead, we’re stuck with a Governor who can’t get past his own failures and move forward for the betterment of the people of this state.”
Pritzker doubled down Wednesday when asked about cuts.
“We wouldn’t be in this situation of needing to work with the unions on furloughs and other cost reductions if the fair tax had passed,” he said. “The Republicans worked tooth and nail to defeat it and, so, here we are. These are the consequences that have been brought on by the Republicans’ failure to have their own plan in lieu of the fair tax.”
Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) says Pritzker does not have the trust of a majority of voters in the state.
“It’s clear that voters overwhelmingly rejected his tax increase because they don’t trust him to solve our state’s problems,” he said.
(Disclosure: I managed Sen. Barickman’s first campaign in 2012 and worked with him on Senate GOP staff in 2013 and 2014. We remain close friends.)
Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) says Pritzker and Democrats are to blame for an out-of-balance budget, not Republicans.
“You can’t ignore Republicans when we try to engage during the budgeting process and work to pass common sense business reforms but then pass a partisan budget balanced with pixie dust, and then blame us for your mess when the plan fails,” Rezin says. “It’s time to bring the legislature back to Springfield so we can work together in earnest to fix this.”
Pritzker said Wednesday Republicans have no plan to fix the state’s budget mess.
“It’s easy to criticize when you have no plan of your own, no proposal of your own. They say ‘well, cut government,’ but then they don’t want to say what they would cut,” Pritzker said. “We’ve put forward proposals for what needs to be trimmed from state government. They’re hard, they’re painful and some evidence of that is the workers and their representatives are concerned about the future of their jobs.”
Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) says Pritzker appears to be playing by a longtime playbook to turn public support for a tax hike.
“Whether state or local governments, the strategy to raising taxes is always the same,” Syverson said. “First, announce some initial cuts. Second, announce every responsible cut has been made, and if you do not raise taxes, you have to cut into core programs. Third, announce that those core programs that have to be cut without more taxes are programs that will affect children and seniors.”
Pritzker is considered by many the most “progressive” or “liberal” Democratic governor in the state in a generation. So many Republicans are skeptical of his calls to cut state government, including the salaries and benefits of unionized state employees. One Republican House member said it appears Pritzker and unions may be teaming up to turn public support for a tax hike.
“That’s certainly the direction AFSCME and AFL-CIO went with their statements. And they would be two key allies for the strategy. I don’t know.”
Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), who was elected to the Senate in November, says Pritzker’s public statements are retaliation against the public for opposing his tax plan.
“It is clear cuts must be made. It is interesting that the conversation regarding prison closures and state employee layoffs have come from the past three Democratic Governors,” she said. “Governor Pritzker’s approach is nothing more than retaliation toward the complete failure across all political lines of his massive tax increase. It would be fairer to [roll back spending] to FY19 or FY20 budget numbers.”
Some Democrats have privately said discussions are ongoing to pass a tax increase during the lame duck session before the new General Assembly is sworn in in early January. Embattled Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan reportedly told the House Black Caucus he would pass a tax increase “at the Governor’s request.”
Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) says Pritzker is unwilling to keep his campaign promises of making hard choices to help the state get back on track.
“This state has been overspending since I was looking into running for office. It’s always been the problem. All they want to do is hand out gifts and they don’t want to get serious about the problem we really have, which is our spending,” Cabello said. “When [Pritzker] came into office, he said we’d do the hard things, like cut spending and reign in pensions. “He’s fallen flat on his face with those promises, especially after proposing a pension holiday [in 2019.] If he thinks the only way of getting out of this is through taxing, he’s frickin’ crazy.”
Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) predicts Democrats have already decided to pass a tax hike.
“I think Governor Pritzker and the Democrats are going to feign cuts in order to pretend they’ve done everything they can possibly do to justify doing what they’ve already decided to do, which is to raise the income tax.”