State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer has been a regular voice of opposition to the Pritzker Administration’s budget proposals and the state’s Sanctuary status and immigrant programs during the current session of the Illinois General Assembly.
Davidsmeyer, who co-chairs the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), says the the state is facing a significant budget problem both in the current fiscal year with a possible $737 million shortfall, as well as in FY26 which begins on July 1: “[State] Democrats are currently pushing crazy legislation that would make our policies and our budget problems even worse. Let’s start with illegal immigration. Due to the failed Biden Administration open border policies, we have more than 530,000 illegal immigrants in the State of Illinois. Let me be clear that without these open border policies, we wouldn’t be having these ICE raids that are going on right now. The Democrats’ sanctuary state policies and giveaways to illegal immigrants are incentives for them to come. If you build it, they will come; and they have. I have again filed legislation to repeal the TRUST Act and end Illinois’ sanctuary state policies. What are Democrats doing? They are doubling down on their failed immigration policies.”
Davidsmeyer says some of the Democrats’ legislation would further restrict local, county, and state law enforcement’s ability to aid federal immigration authorities to seek illegal immigrants in the state.
Earlier this month, the State Auditor General released a report of an audit on the state’s noncitizen health care plan. The audit showed that the program outstripped its original estimated price tag and cost the state of Illinois $1.6 billion through last summer. The report also found more than 6,000 people enrolled in the state-funded programs were classified as “undocumented” despite actually having social security numbers. Some of those people were green card holders who would have instead qualified for health coverage like Medicaid or traditional insurance. The audit, which was requested by lawmakers in 2023, came a week after Governor J.B. Pritzker’s budget address. The governor’s plan would defund a portion of the program aimed at noncitizens aged 44 to 64, while leaving in place the smaller program for noncitizen seniors aged 65 and older.
Davidsmeyer has accused state Democrats of trying to expand the program despite the price: “House Bill 3780 would provide universal healthcare for all individuals residing in the State of Illinois regardless of immigration status. I can only imagine the tens of billions of dollars that this program would cost. Keep in mind that just last year the cost just for state employee healthcare went up over a billion dollars, and they are expecting it to go up another billion dollars this year. That’s just state employees. Rather than working with Republicans to find relief for hard-working taxpayers and bringing down the cost of living, Democrats are once again looking to raise taxes.”
Davidsmeyer has pointed out that there is little state Republicans can do as far as the policies are concerned due to the super majority that Democrats hold in both chambers of the General Assembly as well as all of the executive offices in the state.
When it comes to Governor Pritzker’s claims of balanced budgets during his time in office, Davidsmeyer says that the governor has been lucky over the past 6 years: “One-time dollar amounts have fallen into his hands that have luckily balanced his budget. We are past that point. COGFA is saying those one-time dollars are not coming in. That is who is telling us that this year we are $500 million short. Next year, we are going to be $775 million short, so the reality is we have to focus on the issues that we are here for and not some of this crazy, crazy stuff like making obesity a protected class or something of that sort. The reality is that we have to pass a balanced budget.”
He says it starts with the state setting the right priorities first: “We’ve got billions in unfunded pension liability that we are paying the bare minimum on. We’ve got the developmentally disabled PUNS list that we are barely making positive impact on. We’re barely keeping up with our court orders to take care of the individuals that can’t take care of themselves. Meanwhile, we are spending $15 billion more today than we were when Governor Pritzker came in. We have to get it under control. This is not a slush fund. We have to focus on the important things.”
PUNS is a database that registers individuals who want or need Developmental Disability Waiver services (i.e. Community Integrated Living Arrangements, Home Based Supports, Child Group Homes) funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Developmental Disabilities. As funding is available, individuals are selected from PUNS and invited to apply for waivers. The court orders Davidsmeyer refers to is the Ligas Consent Decree which went into effect in 2011 and has come under review in the state’s court in recent years.
Davidsmeyer joined State Representative Mike Coffey of Springfield on Tuesday to introduce a package of legislation by State Republicans to stop illegal immigration in the state and to repeal or revise portions of the TRUST Act. The Act, which created Illinois as a sanctuary state in 2017, was signed by former Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. Davidsmeyer says the act is misguided: “I am sponsoring legislation, HB1317, to repeal the Illinois TRUST Act, which was a misguided law that prohibits local law enforcement from working with our federal counterparts on illegal immigration. It’s time to end Illinois’ sanctuary state policy. I’ve also filed House Bill 1456 to end the massively expensive free healthcare for illegal immigrants, the HBIA/HBIS program, with an estimated $1.2 billion budget deficit. We simply cannot afford this budget buster anymore.”
Representative Coffey has also filed legislation that would allow Illinois counties to individually opt out of the TRUST ACT. He says counties would be able to adopt individual resolutions to fit their own needs: “This bill gives individual counties the right to set standards that are best suited for their residents and their businesses. Last year, I visited the [southern] border to see our border problem firsthand and listen directly to border agents and agencies and nonprofits handling the thousands of migrants flooding across the border of Texas. I heard from officials from poor counties on the southern border without the funds or the resources to pay for the influx of migrants, and from organizations helping families navigate the aftermath of human trafficking and drugs. In Illinois, especially in this tight budget year, we need to prioritize resources and offer counties a path to opt out of bad state policy and allow local law enforcement to work with our federal partners to protect public safety.”
The immigration bills sponsored by the GOP are likely not to receive committee hearings or debate as State Democrats have said that repealing rights of immigrants is non-starter for any negotiations on reforms.