Lake County Gazette

Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) says the Fiscal Year 2023 budget came together with the help of federal aid and once that's gone, it will be Illinois families who will be hurt.

"Governor Pritzker has signed the FY23 budget today," Bos posted on April 19. "This partisan budget includes a 10% increase in spending on state programs while state revenues are projected to decline by about 5%. The majority party is touting this election-year budget as a triumph of good management when in reality it's entirely temporary – the direct result of a massive federal bailout and an inflation-induced sugar high. When those temporary funds inevitably run out and structural changes have not been made, it will be all our families who foot the bill."

The Illinois legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2023 budget early in the morning on April 9. The Senate passed the $46.5 billion budget by a vote of 34-19, and the House passed it by a vote of 72-42. The budget allocates $8.8 billion for Human Services, $12 billion for education spending, $2.2 billion for public safety, and $1 billion for the state's rainy day fund.

In 2019, Gov. Pritzker  doubled Illinois' gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents while also instituting an annual gas tax increase. A provision in the state budget will postpone this year's scheduled gas tax increase of 2.2 cents from July to January. Gas stations are required to put stickers on their gas pumps that will explain the postponement. If retailers refuse to use the stickers, they can be fined $500 per day. Josh Sharp of the Illinois Fuel and Retail Association called the mandatory stickers "free election year advertising for the Governor."

The budget will also suspend Illinois' 1% grocery tax for a year, and grocery stores will also be required to notify customers of the change. They can choose to do so either through signage or by printing a message on shoppers' receipts, WMIX reported. Using the budget as an opportunity, state lawmakers also gave themselves more than $485,000 in pay raises. 

Fiscal Year 2023 begins July 1.

 A recent WalletHub report found that Illinoisans shoulder the highest tax burden in the nation, Illinois Policy reported. Every year, on average, an Illinois household pays $9,488 in taxes and this is almost 39% more than the national average. Illinoisans also pay the second-highest gas tax and second-highest effective property tax rate. The pension debt in the state is the worst in the country.