The budget was not balanced, and Illinois has not balanced a budget for nearly two decades. Pretending Illinois had no issues before COVID-19 won’t help it recover.
At his daily press conference last Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker traded shots with President Donald Trump over the fiscal health of Illinois, which led to Pritzker incorrectly claiming the state budget would have been balanced were it not for the coronavirus.
Trump tweeted early last Tuesday, “Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?”
When asked about it at his press conference, Pritzker shot back: “Unlike Donald Trump, we proposed and passed and have effectuated a balanced budget for the year that we’re in,” Pritzker argued. “Had it not been for coronavirus, we would have had a (budget) surplus.”
