Budgets are about priorities, and clearly the new state budget prioritizes migrants over citizens and politicians over working-class families.
Volunteer Zaneta Adams speaks with a homeless person near Lower Wacker Drive and Lower Michigan Avenue as the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, along with volunteers, collects data for the 2024 Point-In-Time Count on Jan. 25, 2024.
Illinois legislators are some of the highest paid in the country. In Indiana, legislators make a base salary of $29,749, plus $196 per diem for session days. In Missouri, state lawmakers receive an annual salary of $36,813, plus a $121 per diem for session days. The budget includes $182 million to support migrants’ care in Chicago. Pritzker has already spent or obligated $638 million, according to WTTW-Ch. 11. We have citizens sleeping under viaducts, while migrants sleep in hotels and shelters established for them. The sanctuary policies of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Pritzker welcomed asylum-seekers. The sanctuary policies have prioritized migrants at the expense of our own citizens.
The Metro East Sun reported that during “the 2021-22 school year 96% of the East St. Louis School District 189 students failed the Math portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness test, according to the Illinois State Board of Education report.” The list of school districts and students who didn’t meet academic standards in math during 2021-22 is unacceptably long. It includes school districts in Peoria, Rockford, Dolton, Joliet, Harvey, Danville, Decatur, Aurora, Kankakee and Chicago.
The U.S. Census Bureau noted at the end of last year that Illinois was one of eight states that saw population declines during 2023. Interestingly, states around us are gaining population. “Illinois lost 32,826 residents in 2023, whereas Missouri gained 18,988 residents, Iowa gained 7,311 residents, and Indiana gained 29,925 residents,” Springfield’s WICS-Ch. 20 reported.Pritzker should strike pay raises for legislators from the budget. Pay raises should be done by referendum question.
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