Skip to main content
Tags: illinois budget | illegal | immigrants | spending | democrats | taxes | joe biden

GOP Ill. Lawmaker: We Raised Taxes $1B to Pay for Migrants

Cannot create player Reason:

By    |   Wednesday, 29 May 2024 06:24 PM EDT

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.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.

Newsfront
A GOP 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 Biden's open border policies.
illinois budget, illegal, immigrants, spending, democrats, taxes, joe biden, border, policies
290
2024-24-29
Wednesday, 29 May 2024 06:24 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved