Local Illinois Republicans in the General Assembly are criticizing the bill passed in the House Wednesday that addresses the deficit in the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. St. Rep Tom Demmer of Dixon says the fund had a surplus, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a deficit.
Demmer says the federal COVID relief money could be used to end the $4.5 billion deficit. But he says the plan that passed the House is only using roughly $2.7 billion of the $6.9 billion dollars in federal funds the state received.
He says this isn’t the first time Republicans discussed the deficit in the trust fund. He says it was talked about last year during a ten minute debate at the end of the last session around midnight.
St Sen. Sue Rezin of Morris says as Democrats have done this time and time again, they chose to raise taxes rather than pay off debt entirely. She says choosing to leave a $1.8 billion hole in the is critical social safety net program, with no plan to pay back the rest of the debt, leaves taxpayers on the hook for future increases.
St. Rep David Welter says Democrats took the disappointing but not surprising approach to the issue.
This was the full speech given by Tom Demmer on the House floor: