The Technology & Manufacturing Association responded to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s 2023 State of the State speech Wednesday, February 15, with the following comments from TMA Executive Vice President Dennis LaComb:
“After 4 years of tax increases and burdensome regulations heaped on our members, we were desperately hoping for meaningful relief from Governor Pritzker as he begins his second term. But there was nothing but silence on relief and more discussion of additional, expensive social programs that small and mid-sized manufacturers will need to fund.
“We do want to thank the Governor for responsibly using the federal COVID funds to pay down the unemployment trust fund debt as we had urged. We also thank the Governor for using those federal funds to pay down the bill backlog and put Illinois on a stronger financial footing. But we have a long way to go financially in Illinois as our state’s $140 billion in public pension debt continues to grow without reforms. As Comptroller Susana Mendoza said, now is not the time to increase spending on new programs – we should instead focus on paying our bills.
“Unfortunately, the Governor is planning to do the opposite. In his address today, he outlined hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending on new programs that will continue to increase our state’s debt and require new taxes by Illinois residents and business owners to fund. We fear a resurrection of the Governor’s progressive tax plan might be in the works to fund this additional, massive spending.
“We call on the Governor and legislative leaders to shelve these expensive new spending plans and instead start working with us to help our small and mid-sized manufacturing members thrive and create more jobs for Illinoisans.”
To read the Governor’s speech, go to https://tmanews.com/2023/02/il-governor-jb-pritzkers-2023-state-of-the-state-address/
