Issue Position: Budget

Issue Position

BALANCED APPROACH NEEDED IN BUDGET DEBATE
Mike knows the state budget is all about the balanced approach, and that's what our families and neighbors expect as well. Focusing only on damaging cuts to solve the state's fiscal challenges will not solve the problem, but it will hurt those he is sent to help in Springfield. He knows that cutting medical care services for the elderly, the disabled and struggling families by more than $1 billion will do more harm than good.

He strongly opposes the view of some politicians who have pushed extreme budgets driven by devastating cuts to critical programs: emergency shelters that serve homeless families and children, services for victims of child abuse and nursing home care for thousands of frail elderly residents.

Mike's approach to the proper budget balance to protect the middle class includes spending reductions and some new revenue, such as closing corporate tax loopholes and requiring those who make more than $1 million a year to pay a little more.

ZALEWSKI REJECTS PAY RAISE
Amid the budget impasse, Rep. Zalewski voted to cut his own pay. House Bill 576, sponsored by Rep. Zalewski, blocks pay raises for legislators and freezes mileage reimbursement rates. House Bill 576 passed the General Assembly.

"Illinois is facing serious financial challenges, and this is no time to be paying legislators more. Earlier this year, I supported a spending plan that rejected legislators' automatic pay increase, but when the governor chose to veto that budget, further action was needed to prioritize spending and ensure taxpayers aren't subsidizing a legislative pay raise. My vote to reject a pay raise and freeze reimbursement rates for legislators makes it clear that while middle-class families are struggling to make ends meet and the services they rely on are facing severe reductions and eliminations under the governor's plan, elected officials need to lead by example."- State Rep. Michael J. Zalewski

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