Many Americans are excited for President Trump to take office again.
He’s wasting no time selecting his key personnel and establishing their priorities. The Leftist Governors and Mayors that vow to stand in Trump’s way over deportation of illegals, green energy, killing DEI in every crevice of the country, and much more can throw their temper tantrums and resist, resist, resist, but when they depend on the federal purse, resistance will cost them dearly.
One of Trump’s most significant initiatives is DOGE – his new agency, the Department of Government and Efficiency. Trump’s gurus running DOGE, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Elon Musk, are fearless entrepreneurs smart enough to outsmart even the most entrenched bureaucrats. While some Americans may not like Trump, no American should argue with improving government efficiency and rooting out waste. The stories of waste are legendary, from the proverbial $640 toilet seats to government studies on how cocaine affects the sex habits of Japanese quails. With $36 Trillion in debt at the federal level and an interest payment that is higher than our defense budget, EVERY American should back DOGE. Our national security and our children’s future is at stake.
We wish Elon and Vivek lots of luck. They are targeting $500 billion in cuts. Hopefully, they will engage Open the Books to help them with their monumental task.
We also hope DOGE recommendations reach Illinois.
| Illinois is already sizing up what a Trump administration could do to upset the state budget. It’s hilarious to watch these bureaucrats and politicians that tax and spend, and tax and spend, and spend every last dime on stupid and stupider grants and programs that add ZERO value to the average Illinoisan go into panic mode. Pritzker’s own Office of Management and Budget issued a three-page memo to agency directors warning them that budget deficits are on the horizon and encouraging them to look for any cuts that can be made to their budgets. I wish they would ask me that question. I could find two BILLION dollars in cuts in two minutes. The easiest way to do it is to cut every grant line that is “subject to appropriation.” These items aren’t mandatory to fund by law but optional. |
| Next, cut all spending on illegal immigrant healthcare for the adult population. This benefit only showed up four years ago and is costing us nearly a billion dollars. A third easy cut would be to reduce legislator pay, per diem, and office allocation back to 2018 levels and get rid of their pensions entirely. Pay them out what they paid in and be done with it. They have a part-time gig, and they are terrible at their job. They won’t cut property taxes, SAT scores are declining, and Illinois has the second-highest unemployment rate. They are failing us! Andy Manar is the Deputy Governor for Budget and the Economy. In his memo to agency directors on November 21, 2024 he wrote: |
On November 1st, GOMB’s Economic and Fiscal Policy Report1 was published. The report provides a look toward the next five fiscal years and serves as a valuable tool to help us understand the fiscal challenges we face and develop proactive solutions to meet those challenges. This year’s report outlines the impact of a slowing national economy. In addition, the report also begins to quantify the impact of medical inflation, required pension contribution increases, statutory shifts of sales tax revenues away from the General Funds, and FY25 budget transfers that will not be repeated in FY26. The report shows the initial FY26 General Funds revenue forecast is roughly flat to FY25 revenues. The report illustrates that the combined impact, assuming modest agency budget growth in the 2%-4% range, yields a General Funds budget shortfall of over $3 billion.
General Revenue expected to be flat – Budget Shortfall of over $3 billion – This is not the news Democrats want to hear – especially Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson who has his own budget woes and is looking for help anywhere he can get it.
Manar’s memo went on, now warning about Trump’s likely cuts to states and the ending of COVID funds.
Additionally, the upcoming changes at the national level in the executive and legislative branch are creating some additional uncertainty regarding federal funding and the economic outlook. We need to take steps to ensure that the State is in position to address any economic disruptions that may arise.
Certain federal programs may be facing funding cuts or elimination beginning in
calendar year 2025– the expectation should be that the State will not have resources
backfill any of these emerging spending pressures.
As expected, certain federal funds (e.g. ARPA and other COVID era funding) may be coming to an end– the expectation should be that the State will not backfill any of these previously anticipated spending pressures.
| Four years after COVID, you’re still paying for programs that have nothing to do with mitigating COVID’s impact. Manar offered suggestions to directors, such as not “requesting non-critical headcount increases,” which begs the question of whether they hired people they didn’t need in the past. Of course, they did! Manar also suggested they “identify and quantify operational efficiencies and program consolidations that can reduce costs.” Shouldn’t they be doing that all the time? According to the governor’s own people, Illinois is looking at budget deficits of a total of $23 billion over the next five years. He was warned—don’t start new programs with COVID money—and he didn’t listen. Pritzker would rather raise taxes than cut spending, which is what he has done every year while in office. But now, he is facing a real crisis. He’s challenged Trump and says he will defy his orders on deportations, ending transgender procedures on minors, and other areas. They will clash on education and green energy, which could result in big financial hits to Illinois’ budget. For example, if Pritzker insists on allowing boys on girls’ sports teams, which Trump opposes, he could jeopardize billions in federal funds. The K-12 budget is set to receive $6.4 billion from the federal government this year. I don’t know how much of that is statutory pass through, but there is no doubt some is discretionary spending that could be withheld if Pritzker doesn’t play ball. Earlier this year, in this article, I detailed some of the nonsense they funded in the FY2025 budget. Every identity-based chamber of commerce, lots of non-profits with little information on what they do, and grants to wealthy park districts. What are we waiting for – Taxpayers must demand DOGE at every level of government. |