WASHIGNTON, D.C. – After Senate Republicans passed a budget resolution that would slash trillions of dollars from programs that Illinoisans depend on, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement:
“This Republican budget would recklessly slash funding for vital programs that tens of millions of seniors, students, Veterans and hardworking families rely on. It would scale back our investments in job-creating infrastructure projects and add trillions of dollars to the deficit – all to pay for massive tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthiest among us. That’s downright irresponsible. The American people deserve better.”
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The Senate Republican budget would cut $473 billion from Medicare, hundreds of billions from infrastructure investments and Pell Grants, and eliminate Head Start services for tens of thousands of children. Duckworth voted today to amend the budget to prevent Republicans from ending the state and local tax deduction that protects nearly 2 million Illinoisans from unfair double taxation and to prevent the budget from being used to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000. She also voted to restore funding that was cut from critical safety net programs. Those efforts were defeated by Senate Republicans.
Senator Duckworth also introduced the following amendments to help create good-paying jobs and modernize infrastructure projects in Illinois and across the country:
- Duckworth’s amendment to improve the nation’s inland waterways system would help modernize the country’s aging locks and dams – which is particularly important to Illinois’s economy – without affecting the deficit. Improving our waterways would make farmers and small businesses more competitive in the global marketplace, create jobs across the country and bolster Illinois’s status as a world-class transportation hub.
- Duckworth’s amendment to strengthen investments in infrastructure projects would help grow local economies across the country through key grant programs like the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program – both of which are vital to modernizing Illinois’s infrastructure and transportation systems. Since 2009, Illinois has received more than $327 million in TIGER Grant funding to support critical transportation infrastructure projects.
- Duckworth’s amendment to support America’s rural communities would help fund clean water, drinking water and rural development programs by ensuring that any elimination of the carried interest tax loophole for ultra-wealthy Americans is reinvested in these critical development programs. Investments in rural development programs are critical to supporting Illinois’s agricultural sector and creating economic opportunities for hardworking families in rural communities.
