Red Bud, IL…State Representative David Friess (R-Redbud) has responded to a possible nationwide recession could hamper Illinois spending plans. In testimony presented to the House Revenue and Finance Committee, Revenue Director David Harris and Alexis Sturm, Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), presented testimony on the possible impact of a Year 2023 recession on the Illinois economic outlook and State revenues available for spending.
Working with ongoing cash flow numbers that reflect tax payments made by Illinois residents to the Department of Revenue, both executives – backed by Department of Revenue chief economist Rubina Hafeez – said that the State of Illinois’ immediate financial position is good. However, their testimony included data on current projections by global economic forecasters. These forecasting groups continue to project that the U.S. economy is deemed likely to fall into a mild recession in calendar year 2023. This projected recession, if it occurs, will have a negative impact on State revenues and plans for more State spending, including multi-billion-dollar spending requests from the supermajority Democrats.
“If we are going to safeguard the financial future of Illinois, we need to stop the reckless spending the democrats continue to force into the budget,” Rep. Friess said. “We can only continue at this breakneck pace for so long before we face a recession that will significantly hamper our potential as a state. We have to make responsible and realistic changes to our spending habits now so that we can protect ourselves from a hard-hitting recession.”
Speaking at the Revenue Committee hearing, House Republicans pointed out that Illinois’ overall record of economic underperformance relative to other U.S. states means that any possible recession could hit Illinois much harder than other regions of the country. Gov. Pritzker’s Office of Management and Budget has not yet plugged Illinois’ underperformance into its economic numbers and forecasts.
Rep. Friess proudly serves the people of the 115th District.
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