#22. It’s a Boy! Emiliano Max Valencia. Mary and I are so blessed!
Pritzker Continues To Destroy The Quality of Life for Illinois Citizens
JB Pritzker: “Illinois is standing at the center of the fight — the fight to make life more affordable, the fight to protect our freedoms, the fight for common sense.” He has done nothing to make life more affordable. He has destroyed the quality of life for Illinois citizens with his progressive tax hikes and policies that benefit illegal immigrants, not citizens. Energy prices are increasing due to bad policies that cater to wind a solar and the results are higher prices and less grid stability. He is taxing hard working families out of Illinois and could care less as long as his pork projects get funded by taxpayers. This is the same governor who works to strip freedoms from legal gun owners, and he same governor who lives in fantasy land thinking common sense is to put illegals before citizens. Pritzker is guilty of abusing taxpayers to fund his radical agenda and guilty of creating a state of disaster.
State spending under Governor Pritzker has grown exponentially since he took office in 2019. When he took over as Governor, state expenditures were $40.3 billion. Each year since we have seen state spending grow and we now have a budget that is $15 billion higher than when he took office.
The $55.2 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 is reliant on one-time revenues and a billion dollars in tax hikes and fund sweeps… read more.
Brace Yourselves for the Insanity
Beginning July 1, Illinois consumers will start paying higher taxes on everything from short-term rentals to vaping products. They will also be footing the tax bill for select businesses while other businesses will face double taxation.
As always, the Illinois General Assembly’s Democrat Supermajority didn’t offer up the opportunity to honestly discuss or debate this legislation before passing it.
To add insult to injury, House Bill 2755 was originally intended to honor Emmett Till (the 14-year old boy who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955) every July 25th. Instead, Democrats gutted the bill in the final hours of the spring session and replaced it with their self-serving revenue provisions.
DISGUSTING.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_f2d4f802-0dbb-4772-bdfa-4b312bd3a984.html
Lawsuits Are Mounting
GOP lawmakers and most Illinoisans are fed up with the games that the Democrat Supermajority in Springfield continually plays to steamroll any common sense and fair play that would actually serve the people they are supposed to be representing.
Now, these profoundly unfair matters need to be referred to the court system.
A group of Republican lawmakers have filed a lawsuit that seeks to nullify unconstitutional legislation before Gov. JB Pritzker signs it and asks the court to bar the legislature from using a procedure commonly used by the Illinois General Assembly known as ‘gut-and-replace’. More aptly described as ‘the old switcheroo’, the shifty tactic allows lawmakers to sidestep Illinois’ Constitutional requirements without any oversight or discussion.
These two articles explain in more detail:
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/gop-lawsuit-seeks-to-end-gut-and-replace-legislation/
Meanwhile, Democrats voted to fatten their own legal arsenal by giving Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office more than $15 million of YOUR money.
Population Nose Dive – Again
While Illinois continues to lose more people 18 years and under (aka working age people) at a faster rate than any other state, Governor Pritzker continued to paint a fake rosey picture of Illinois, telling members of Congress earlier this month that the state is growing.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_566853ca-c2d9-414c-8649-f15c844c5e7c.html
Not only is Illinois losing young people, there is a big jump in the elderly population. Combined with some of the highest taxes in the country, (and taxpayers LEAVING the state), this demographic storm will be sending Illinois into a death spiral if we don’t start voting for competent leaders.
Dig into the FACTS in this Wirepoints article:
Illinois Has A Pension Crisis On Its Hands
It is the worst in the nation.
It cost each household $2,233 in 2023, and the state’s collective funding ratio of 51.6% was also the lowest in the nation. Most Illinoisans want pension reform, but because the Illinois Supreme Court rejected lawmakers’ bipartisan plan in 2015, it will take a statewide vote and a change to the Illinois Constitution to fix the problem.
If Governor Pritzker doesn’t veto the Tier 2 pension legislation that was passed in the dark of night during recent budget negotiations, the problem will only get worse. This type of reckless and self-serving behavior is the fault of everyone who has their fingers in the honey pot, and it is why Illinois is in serious trouble.
VERY SCARY PEOPLE
Even though some Chicago schools are spending $93,000 PER STUDENT, with dismal results and operating at one-third capacity, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Stacy Davis Gates had the obnoxious audacity to say that ‘CTU thinks your children are its children.’
She, and people like her, are operating nothing short of a RACKET that YOU are paying for with your taxpayer dollars.
The children of Illinois are paying dearly for it with their very lives and futures.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-teachers-union-president-suggests-children-belong-them
The Many Functions Of Water
As we move into the warmer (and currently HOT) months of the year, more than your flowers and grass will need watering. It is so important to make sure you and your pets are well-hydrated every day, too! Water is absolutely critical to our bodies, helping nearly every major system in our body function properly, and it impacts our health at the most basic cellular level.
Here is a more in-depth look at why water matters:
https://www.isabeldprice.com/exploring-the-essence-of-water/
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.