West Central Reporter

Springfield, IL – In the early hours of Wednesday morning, State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville) cast a dissenting vote against the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget. Davidsmeyer criticized the $53.1 billion spending plan, which he claims was developed behind closed doors by supermajority Democrats and represents an increase of $2.6 billion over last year’s budget.

“This is the largest budget in state history at $53.1 billion,” stated Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer. “The Democrats are raising taxes to continue their spending spree, including $1 billion in tax hikes on businesses and working people. There is also $1 billion in the budget for direct services and health care coverage for people who have come to our country illegally.”

Davidsmeyer, co-chair of the Commission of Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), argued that the budget relies on an additional $1 billion in fund transfers and other financial maneuvers to achieve balance. He accused Democrats of using legislative tactics to pass tax increases with minimal support.

“These gimmicks hide the true cost of this spending plan going forward,” Davidsmeyer said. “Over the last four years, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and Governor JB Pritzker have grown state expenditures by more than $13 billion, included millions of dollars in pork projects, while raising taxes on small businesses and individuals. In fact, they put together an incentive package for certain large corporations while requiring mom & pop businesses to foot the bill.”

Governor Pritzker and Democratic legislators have previously asserted that they were not using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the federal government to increase baseline spending. However, according to Davidsmeyer, the FY25 budget includes additional state funds for programs initially funded by ARPA, such as domestic violence prevention and rental assistance.

“While citizens are strapped for cash due to the Biden inflation economy, Illinois Democrats put together another blowout budget that raises taxes and prioritizes spending on taxpayer-funded health insurance and other programs for people who came here illegally,” Davidsmeyer said. “Prioritizing spending on failed sanctuary state policies is wrong; raising taxes during record inflation is wrong; creating new programs during a time of financial hardship for not only our state but for our citizens and working families is wrong. Quite simply, this budget is wrong. I voted NO.”