Rep. Tipsword’s E-Newsletter: General Assembly, No Tax on Tips, Valentines for Seniors, and More

VALENTINES FOR SENIORS CARD DRIVE

My office is co-hosting a Valentines for Seniors Card Drive, with the deadline for submissions on February 2. Please consider bringing Valentine's Day cheer to our local seniors! Cards can be dropped off or mailed to one of our legislative offices listed above. Thank you in advance for your support and for helping to bring kindness and smiles to our communities!

NO TAX ON TIPS

An idea with bipartisan support, like No Tax on Tips, should be able to pass through the General Assembly easily. However, Democrat leaders continually hold up good legislation to score political points. Bipartisan calls to bring no tax on tips to Illinois

EDUCATION

Help for Illinois students through a new federal scholarship program hinges on Governor Pritzker's support. Illinois students are struggling, and the Governor should be on board with any efforts to improve outcomes for Illinois children. Donors can help Illinois students, but will Pritzker let them?

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rather than address the very real issues facing our state, Democrats chose to waste valuable time in the House this week pontificating about federal measures we have no control over in state government.

Illinoisans are fed up with high taxes and rising costs of just about everything across our state. Instead of spending taxpayer resources passing gotcha resolutions and trying to score political points, the majority party should join us in finding solutions to our state's most pressing problems.

We need to bring down tax rates, grow jobs and opportunities, help lower energy bills, and get our state on a better path forward for the people we represent.

Democrats need to stop the grandstanding and get to work for Illinois families.

SAFE-T ACT

The SAFE-T Act needs to be fixed to protect Illinoisans and ensure public safety. One much-needed change proposed by House Republicans is to make all felonies detainable offenses. Republican lawmakers push for new changes to controversial SAFE-T Act | WCIA.com

DANGEROUS COLD WEATHER

Dangerously cold temperatures have arrived in our area and will continue for several days. Make sure you're prepared for the bitter cold. Remember to limit time outdoors, dress in layers covering all exposed skin, and bring in any outdoor pets.

STATE BUDGET

Spring session overshadowed by $2.2 billion budget deficit

One of the largest issues currently facing the Illinois General Assembly is the unsustainable trend of record State spending. Governor Pritzker's own Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) has generated a fiscal projection that estimates an approaching deficit, based on estimated revenues and expenditures, of $2.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2027, which begins on July 1, 2026.

The General Assembly is bound, by the Constitution of Illinois, to enact a "balanced budget," in which spending matches expenditures. In the past several years, this mandate has been sort-of met by enacting last-minute "midnight" tax increases and other budget gimmicks and sleights-of-hand. The combination of these policies, coupled with unchecked spending by the Democratic majority, is one of the reasons GOMB projects an annual budget deficit that will be $2.2 billion per year, and growing, over the next five years.

When Gov. Pritzker releases his proposed FY27 budget on February 18th, he may project a smaller FY27 deficit than GOMB projected last October. A downward-revised projected deficit could be projected based on increased revenues into the state coffers. Democrats have "decoupled" Illinois from some pro-growth tax reforms in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year. Furthermore, the President Trump-led U.S. economy appears to be more resilient than experts and economists predicted; and this nationwide resiliency could help all the states, including Illinois.