Metro East Sun

Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) took to Facebook early Tuesday to share a desperate message: Illinois is hemorrhaging money.

Plummer posted: “Through  sheer incompetence, or perhaps because he just cares about his time as governor and not the future of the people in Illinois, Governor JB Pritzker is fumbling our recovery and making a bad fiscal situation much worse.”

Early projections show that overspending will also persist for the next five years. The lowest projection for overspending is $406 million for 2023, and the highest is $1.56 billion expected in 2025. The state of Illinois received $8.4 billion in COVID-19 relief last year. The Center Square reported that even with its federal income, Illinois will still be in trouble in the near future. 

Plummer’s post continues: “The governor, and his Democrat allies, are blowing federal dollars, creating new programs that are not sustainable, and neglecting to address the core problems that are crushing our state's economy and Illinois taxpayers.”

According to a report from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, “the forecasted fiscal year 2023 shortfall was reduced from $2.9 billion, as estimated in 2019, to $406 million, and the 2024 shortfall was reduced from $3.2 billion, as estimated in 2019, to a deficit of $820   million.” 

This is not the first time Plummer has used his personal Facebook account to make political announcements. Plummer’s prior post is an open invitation to his Monday town hall in Edwardsville. Earlier this month Plummer took to Facebook to endorse Republican colleague Steve McClure for Senate. 

He’s also used the site to announce his appointment as the head of Illinois’ Human Trafficking Task Force, and openly oppose the amendment to the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, (passed Oct. 27) which allows employers to enforce policies relating to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.