Weekly Newsletter from Rep. Miller

April 15, 2024

Thank you for reading my newsletter.

Last week in Springfield we opened Session with over 500 bills up for consideration by the entire House. I’m not sure we need 500 new laws in Illinois. Among the bills that have gotten to this stage in the legislative process, not many are going to improve the lives of the majority of Illinois citizens. Some of those 500 bills moved from second reading to third reading where they can then be considered for a final vote in the coming weeks.

Also in Springfield, House Committees continued to meet to hear from agencies and other recipients of government funding about their budget requests. Many committees also had hearings to gather more information about a specific topic. For example, the Revenue and Finance Committee met to discuss “Estate Tax, Farms & Natural Areas; HB 4600, HB 1459, HB 1576, HB 4115, HB 4560.”

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Below you will find several articles and commentary about important issues of importance to Illinoisans. Being an informed citizen is critical to maintaining our representative Republic.

God Bless You and Have a Great Week!

Illinois Happenings This Week

Pritzker Hikes Income Tax to Pay For His Record Spending

The governor is once again reneging on the state’s promise to taxpayers that the standard income tax exemption would increase with inflation. After skipping two years of inflation adjustments, the current exemption for tax year 2024 is set at $2,775 per income taxpayer and dependent. Now he wants to reduce that to $2,550- essentially taking away one more year of inflation adjustments.

This TAX INCREASE will disproportionately affect lower-income households.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-budget-93m-income-tax-hike-for-record-spending

In Just (6) Months We See Lawlessness from Cashless Bail

Six months after the full implementation of the cashless bail, and other provisions, of the Illinois SAFE-T Act, Illinois residents are finding themselves anything but safe.

House Republicans warned against the passage of the SAFE-T Act because of problematic provisions in the law that make the work of law enforcement officials harder to do, and because the law will make our communities less safe.

We opposed ending cash bail. We opposed anonymous complaints against police officers. We opposed the very nature of the way the bill was passed. Four attempts at trailer legislation still haven’t fixed the issues within the SAFE-T Act.

“Radical Democrats continue to prove they favor criminals over law-abiding citizens. This law is nothing more than a handshake with people who commit crimes and public safety continues to mount as criminals become more brazen.”   -Rep. Miller

Now that the end of cash bail is in place, we have seen numerous reports from throughout the state of individuals committing crimes, being let out of jail shortly after, and then offending again while they are out awaiting their court date.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Illinoisans deserve to know that when a perpetrator commits a crime, they are going to be held accountable, and most certainly that they won’t be back out on the streets in just a matter of a few hours.

The headlines back up the concerns expressed by House Republican legislators about the SAFE-T Act. While hundreds of headlines have peppered Illinois news sources since the SAFE-T Act was fully implemented six months ago, below are some of the important stories you may have missed.

Learn more about the House Republican Public Safety Working Group’s solutions to improving public safety for Illinois residents

Illinois SAFE-T Act Diminishes Public Safety

Growing Costs of Illegal Immigrants in Illinois

The cost of providing services to illegal immigrants is costing Illinois taxpayers an estimated $2.84 billion since July 1, 2022. This does not include education costs or other various state and local services.

Estimated Illinois taxpayer spending on non-citizens from Fiscal Year 2023 to Fiscal Year 2025 include $820 million in support services, which is broken down to $478 million for asylum seeker assistance, $160 million for new additional state investments, and $182 million for emergency funding requests.

While estimated healthcare costs for illegal immigrants over the same two-year period are pinned at just over $2 billion, an astounding figure. This includes $619 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget, $773 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, and $629 million in the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 state budget.

Republican lawmakers have been adamant in questioning Illinois Democrats priorities because of their funding of the meteoric rise in healthcare costs for illegal immigrants. While Illinois residents and hard-working parents have to pay insurance premiums and co-pays, illegal immigrants have largely not been subjected to paying for any part of their healthcare costs, all at the expense of taxpayers. 

The billions of taxpayer dollars being spent on illegal immigrants directly takes away funds that could be used to support essential programs for all Illinois citizens, including seniors and those most economically and socially vulnerable. Illinois is one of only five states in the nation that provide Medicare-like benefits, at taxpayer cost, to illegal immigrants. 

House Republican lawmakers in Illinois have, meanwhile, sponsored legislation to put a much-needed moratorium on healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants (House Resolution 220) as well as legislation to repeal the Illinois Trust Act (House Bill 4187), which defined Illinois as a Sanctuary State for illegal immigrants.

The Reality of Illegal Immigration

repcmiller.com/2024/02/09/the-reality-of-illegal-immigration

END ILLINOIS’ SANCTUARY STATE. REPEAL THE TRUST ACT!

The Illinois TRUST Act, enacted in 2017, made Illinois a “sanctuary state” for undocumented immigrants. The TRUST Act prohibits local law enforcement in Illinois from participating in immigration enforcement. Currently, the cost of providing services to undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers is costing taxpayers an estimated $2.84 billion from fiscal year 2023 through fiscal year 2025, which doesn’t even include education costs or other various state and local services. We must repeal the TRUST Act to end Illinois’ sanctuary state status and stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into Illinois.

Sign This Petition in support of legislation to repeal the Trust Act. 

PENSION MONSTER

Illinois’ state budgets have skyrocketed under Governor Pritzker, and pension expenses are the single-largest line item, taking up nearly $11.6 billion across all state funds.

Pension contributions are far below what will be required to pay down the debt and will put the state $4.5 billion in the red in fiscal year 2025.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pensions-eat-up-11-6b-of-illinois-budget

LIES.

The Chinese electric vehicle battery company, Gotion, who wants to plant itself in Illinois and Michigan, claims that they are not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

But it is heavily documented that this is not true.

https://wirepoints.org/demand-answers-from-illinois-officials-on-gotions-links-to-chinese-communist-party-and-its-grossly-over-subsidized-manteno-project-wirepoints

The fools in Illinois who are responsible for promoting and welcoming Gotion are not only shunning American businesses and putting us all in potential danger with the CCP, they expect US to pay for it. According to their mind-numbing plan, Gotion is set to receive $530 million in TAXPAYER dollars and is eligible for an additional $7.5 billion in federal tax credits.

Get all the details of how Democrats and Gotion are deceiving hard working Americans in this article:

https://wirepoints.org/the-ccp-doesnt-run-china-and-is-no-different-than-u-s-parties-says-gotion-that-and-more-updates-on-its-plans-for-illinois-and-michigan-wirepoints

It’s Time for Spring Cleaning!

It’s a great time to organize, deep clean and donate unused items in your home!

With this detailed guide, you’ll be able to tackle your house inside and out. It contains tips for everything from refreshing your décor to preparing outdoor furniture- and it even comes with a printable checklist:

https://www.bhg.com/homekeeping/house-cleaning/tips/spring-cleaning-guide

Here is a map of the new 101st House District. Use this link for a clearer picture and to enter your address to see if you live in the district: https://repcmiller.com/district/

As your state representative, my office is available to assist you with any issues you may have when interacting with a state agency.

Please call our office at 217.508.4108 to get help or schedule an appointment to see me.

The office is located at 1113 Lincoln Ave, Charleston and is open Mon-Fri from 9am- 4 pm.