(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Some of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stronger allies have spoken out about where they feel his current $52.7 billion Illinois budget proposal falls short.
Illinois Rep. Carol Ammons, who represents Urbana and chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, said there's been widespread praise for the new Evidence Based Formula (EBF) that’s currently being used to distribute school funding. She credited the new formula with bringing more help to underfunded districts, but she said the state needs to take it further.
“The EBF is being funded at $350 million, and it had been funded as $350 million as the floor,” Ammons said. “In order to close the adequacy gap in reality, we need at least $500 million to do that. We can’t put that off for another decade because what happens when we put off investing in the K-12 system adequately is we are widening that gap.”
South Suburban Rep. Will Davis, a major driver behind school funding efforts and the EBF, said Pritzker should also be doing more to help minority-owned companies get state contracts.
He suggested agencies are not taking the intentions seriously enough without a push from the man at the top.
“If we can’t get our IDOT, capital development board, tollway, to just be better at making sure that … they give those opportunities to businesses in those spaces, I mean we’re just continually fighting an uphill battle,” he said. “When we talk about the budget document, that is the government’s blueprint. We heard [Pritzker] say a lot of things that he wants to do for the Black community, the migrant community, we heard him say that.
“But when it comes to some things, if he’s not saying it, his people don’t do it. Simple as that.
The state budget and race are the topics on this weekend’s “At Issue” program, which airs on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
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