Weekly News from Leader McCombie

Today is Primary Day in Illinois! This is your last day to vote in the Primary Election to select each party's nominees for the General Election, which will see races for US Senate. US House, State House, some State Senate seats and many County- level officials like County Board, Sheriff, and Treasurer. Polls are open until 7:00pm tonight!

Governor Pritzker Needs a Dose of Reality

During an interview with Capitol News Illinois last week, Governor Pritzker dismissed state Republicans as "doom grifters" and "carnival barkers," even suggesting they are rooting for Illinois to fail. The truth is, House Republicans have repeatedly offered real solutions for the challenges facing our state, only to be shut out of the legislative process by the Democratic supermajority.

The governor also made several claims that simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Here are the facts: House Republicans Offer Real Solutions

While the governor calls Republicans "carnival barkers," it is his party that has shut them out of the legislative process, effectively silencing the voices of the districts they represent. Republicans have repeatedly put forward solutions on key issues, only to be ignored by the Democratic supermajority.

Year after year, Republicans are excluded from budget negotiations and often do not see the final budget language until the final hours of session.

This past fall, Democrats brought their mass transit bailout bill to committee without providing any legislative language for Republicans to review.

Even more recently, Representative John Cabello highlighted that Republicans were cut out of the negotiation process on the Mega Projects Bill.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have introduced more than 40 bills to fix the broken SAFE-T Act, many of which have never even been given a hearing.

Republicans have also introduced proposals to cut taxes, rein in spending, and bring relief to families struggling with Illinois' high cost of living, such as Representative Spain's HB 1383, which would allow taxpayers to deduct tip income from their state taxable income.

Governor Pritzker's Tax Hikes Are Crushing Working Families

Despite the governor's claim that he has "lowered taxes on working-class people in this state," the facts tell a very different story.

Just last week, WalletHub ranked Illinois number one for the highest tax rates in the country, a staggering 53% above the national average.

According to the Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois residents are paying an average of $1,434 more per person in taxes than before Governor Pritzker took office.

Compared to 2019, Illinois now collects $18 billion more from taxpayers, a 51% increase.

Since taking office, Governor Pritzker has enacted at least 49 tax and fee hikes on Illinois families and businesses.

BUDGET

Illinois Revenue Estimate for FY27

As part of its work to help get a budget enacted for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins on July 1, 2026, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) has issued its official Revenue Estimate for FY27.

The Commission estimates that FY 2027 General Funds revenues will total approximately $55.525 billion. This represents a decline of $458 million, or 0.8%, from the Commission's revised FY 2026 forecast of $55.983 billion.

CGFA's revenue estimate sets aside the revenue estimate that the Governor released, which relies on $728 million in tax increases and revenue shifts, even though they have not yet been enacted to balance his record $56 billion spending proposal. CGFA estimates $55.983 billion in general revenue for FY26, which is actually $755 million (1.4%) higher than what the Governor forecast in February. In line with this revenue estimation trend, CGFA's FY27 revenue estimate is $199 million higher than the Governor's estimate for FY27 based on current law (excluding the Governor's proposed tax increases).

After adjusting out the Governor's additional revenue, however, CGFA's FY27 estimate is $529 million lower than the Governor's estimate. Placing CGFA's FY27 revenue estimate against the Governor's $56 billion spending proposal results in a $500 million projected State deficit for FY27.

Below is a breakdown of that proposed revenue and tables from the CGFA report discussing the differences between the two estimates:

New Revenue Included in the Governor's FY27 Budget Proposal

Some additional key elements of CGFA's revenue projections and findings are:

• Major challenges lie immediately ahead for the Illinois economy. For example, after consulting with outside analysts and looking at FY26 sales activity, CGFA see Illinois sales tax revenues going up less than 2% in FY27.
• This increase of less than 2% in taxable Illinois sales activity in FY27 comes despite the fact that outside analysts see current inflation rates as well above 2.0%, indicating that true sales tax activity in Illinois may actually be negative in FY27.
• A third traditional source of Illinois general funds revenues, corporate income tax, is projected to be sharply negative in FY27 under current tax law.
• FY27 revenues are projected to be $458 million less than the FY26 revenues, which could lead to the major Illinois tax hikes that are currently being pushed by Gov. Pritzker.
• These tax hikes, if enacted, will be on top of the ones that already make Illinois one of the highest tax states in the nation.
• Illinois' government spending revenues for FY27 are moving towards a dangerous dependance on individual income tax payments, particularly individual income taxes paid through payroll deductions.
• Any significant downturn in Illinois employment numbers would have a serious negative effect on Illinois state government revenues.
• This effect would come at the same time as Illinois social services programs' urgent need for more money, which our State always displays during economic downturns.
• The State of Illinois currently charges and enforces a near-record individual income tax rate of 4.95%.

House Republicans Talk Business, Budget, Bears at Local Forum

I took part in a bipartisan panel of Illinois legislators last week to discuss "Business, Budget & Bears" at a forum organized by the Schaumburg Business Association.

During the discussion, I joined fellow House Republican Rep. Dan Ugaste to highlight affordability as a top priority when it comes to keeping both businesses and the Chicago Bears in Illinois. We both emphasized the importance of easing financial pressures on families while reducing the heavy tax burden placed on Illinois residents.

If we continue trying to tax our way out of long-standing fiscal problems, we'll keep driving residents and businesses out of Illinois. That's not a sustainable path forward for our state.

Addressing this year's proposed budget and a proposed $60 million reduction to the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF), I also warned that communities across Illinois are already feeling the strain.

Sustainable reforms should solve the problem. Shifting costs onto local governments isn't reform, it just forces communities to raise property taxes on the very families we should be helping.

As property taxes continue to cause problems in communities across the state, Representative Dan Ugaste has filed relief proposals he says would provide immediate help. One of his bills, HB 9, would have provided $3.5 billion in property tax relief this past year alone.

"Our residents are fed up and taxed out," said Rep. Ugaste. "The Chicago Bears should stay in Illinois but not at an unfair cost to taxpayers. This cannot be a one-time deal that only accommodates the Bears, but any relief should be extended to taxpayers across Illinois."

ENERGY

Business coalition warns against phasing out use of natural gas in Illinois

A coalition of 19 manufacturer, business and labor organizations have petitioned to end ongoing workshops studying the future of natural gas in Illinois after a statewide resource adequacy report warned of energy shortages.

In their petition to the Illinois Commerce Commission filed Feb. 24, the coalition called continued efforts to phase out natural gas in Illinois "unreasonable and ill-advised." The petition cited the report's finding that Illinois still relies on natural gas, even as the state moves toward renewable energy sources and decarbonization goals.

Conducted by the ICC in partnership with the Illinois Power Agency and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the report assessed progress toward the state's energy and emissions goals and measured the current and projected status of electric reliability.

Illinois aims to move to 100% carbon-free power by 2045, as mandated in the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.

Read the rest of this story from Capital News Illinois.

UPCOMING EVENTS

There are more opportunities coming up for Traveling Office Hours in April, stay tuned for those details coming soon!

I am excited to again launch my annual Spring Photo Contest! Get your cameras ready and check out the details below: