A Republican Illinois state senator has decried the passage of a $53.1 billion budget by the Democrat-controlled Legislature, claiming taxes were raised nearly $1 billion alone to spend on illegal immigrants who have flooded the state because of President Joe Biden's open border policies.
"We just passed the largest budget in Illinois state history," state Sen. Dan McConchie said in a video posted on X. "Over $53 billion. It includes almost $1 billion in tax increases and nearly $1 billion on the migrant crisis.
"So, we actually raised your taxes just to spend on migrants. Now, there are some good things the budget does, but a lot of things are just very much out of whack. I voted no."
The revenue package features nearly $1.1 billion in tax increases, The Springfield State Journal Register reported, including a hike on sports wagering and video gaming taxes with an extended cap on corporate net operating losses.
The state Senate passed the budget Sunday by a 38-21 vote along party lines. On Wednesday, the House did the same by a 65-45 vote, with seven downstate and suburban Democrats voting in opposition with Republicans.
The budget provides $182 million to fund services for tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., largely bused from Texas, where they crossed the border illegally, and it provides $440 million for healthcare for noncitizens, WMAQ-TV in Chicago reported.
More than 800 buses have traveled to Chicago from Texas since the end of August 2022, making unscheduled drop-offs of migrants who are mostly seeking asylum from Venezuela, WTTW-TV in Chicago reported in February. A total of 35,692 migrants have come to Chicago, according to city data.
Illinois initially spent $478 million in response to the migrant influx.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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