Metro East Sun

State Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) is criticizing House Democrats for missing the deadline to submit the state's proposed budget.

According to a press release posted on Coffey's website, Friday of last week was the last scheduled day of the regular legislative session for the year and the deadline for when the state's budget must be voted on. Coffey says that despite the deadline, Democratic lawmakers failed to meet it. 

"The majority leadership failed to meet their own deadline for the end of session and members of the General Assembly will return to the Capitol later this week to hopefully finish our work," Coffey wrote in a May 22 Facebook post.

Coffey said that Democrats haven't included Republican lawmakers in the closed-door budget negotiations and predicts that the majority party will drop a massive budget plan at the last minute, leaving insufficient time for negotiations, same as they did last year. 

"I hope I am wrong and all members will be provided adequate time to thoroughly vet the budget and have a seat at the negotiating table to make certain that Illinois families are not footing the bill for reckless spending. I will be back on the House Floor this week to do my part as your Representative and ensure your voice is heard," Coffey said, according to the press release.

According to a press release from Illinois.gov, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a budget proposal on Feb. 15. At the time he claimed that although the state still has many fiscal challenges ahead, progress has been made since he became governor. 

"What was once an Illinois with $17 billion in overdue bills is now an Illinois that pays its bills on time. What was once an Illinois that went years without a budget is now an Illinois that has passed four balanced budgets in a row. What was once a state with no cushion to protect it in an economic downturn is now an Illinois on track to have a $2.3 billion Rainy Day Fund. What was once an Illinois with a credit rating on the verge of junk status is now an Illinois getting credit upgrades," Pritzker said, according to the press release. 

"Our fiscal progress is remarkable. Remember the $230 million in College Illinois debt? Paid. Remember the $900 million in group health insurance debt? Paid. How about the $800 million Thompson center liability? Paid. $4.5 billion Unemployment Trust Fund debt? Paid. The $1.3 billion debt owed to Illinois' treasury funds swept by previous governors? Paid. $8 billion of overdue bills? Paid. As of Fiscal Year 2023, all our state's short-term and medium-term liabilities will have been eliminated. All of it. Our budgets are built on a solid foundation of normalized state revenue and more efficient management of state resources. We have used our surpluses to chip away at our long term liabilities too, including $500 million more into our pension stabilization fund over the last two years and my proposal this year to increase that by another $200 million. The percent of the budget needed to meet our statutory obligations has declined as our revenues have grown and our fiscal fortunes have improved."

Coffey was sworn into office to represent the 95th District in January. According to the bio page on his website, he owns Papa Frank's in Springfield, which opened in 2015, and his family has owned Saputo's since 1948.

Visitors can find view Pritzker's budget documents at: https://budget.illinois.gov