East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) bemoans the way the numbers coming out of Springfield never seem to add up.

“We already have a $6 billion budget hole and $137 billion in unfunded pension liability and now we want to spend even more money on medical benefits for illegal immigrants,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “It’s really hard for me to believe Democrats would be so generous if they were spending their own money. For everybody, there’s just complete frustration with their just tax, borrow and spend policies. It’s like we’re both fiscally and morally bankrupt and are now acting like spoiled children to try and get what we want."

Miller points to a provision in the state’s newly passed $42 billion budget bill that puts Illinois taxpayers on the hook as the first state providing Medicaid benefits to undocumented immigrants as the latest example of the lack of accountability.

As of July 1, 2021, undocumented immigrants over the age of 65 with incomes of $12,670 or less would be eligible to receive Medicaid benefits.

“Given the fiscal state of Illinois, nothing about assuming this kind of added debt seems smart or logical,” Miller added. “The people of Illinois are already tapped out and leaving this state by the thousands. A measure like this only stands to increase the pace of the flight from Illinois.”

In the end, Miller said he gets the sense that Democrats may be counting on a windfall he isn’t convinced will ever be forthcoming.

“I think that they’re banking on a bailout for the federal government that at best is just a crap shoot,” he said. “I think the more debt they can speak of the more likely the feds are to swoop in to save them.”