Just hours before the statutory deadline of midnight, May 31, majority party legislators pushed through a record-high budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which includes $55.2 billion in spending. After voting against the budget and it’s supporting implementation documents, State Senator Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) issued the following statement:
“A state’s budget is a list of its priorities, and the FY 2026 budget underscores the misplaced priorities that are driving today’s Democrat agenda. The budget continues to provide funding for services for those in this country illegally, yet decreases the number of service hours for those who provide care to this state’s developmentally and intellectually disabled (IDD) community by 630,000 hours, or the equivalent of about 300 full-time IDD healthcare providers. It is astounding that our Governor and his allies would rather channel funds toward illegal immigrants than adequately fund services for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. This budget also includes money for legislative pay raises, yet provides no property tax relief whatsoever for taxpayers.”