Governor DeSantis and Governor Pritzker each just signed their 8th state budgets. The contrast couldn't be starker. And the lesson is that who you elect matters. Change out the politicians and you get different policies.
For reference, Florida is 1.8x more populous than IL, 23.37m people compared to 12.71m people. Now consider these points:
1. FL general revenue budget is $52B, IL is $56B. Because state's have different ways of budgeting, lookimg at the total FY27 budgets, FL =$117B, IL=$130B. This doesn't make sense.
2. Pritzker advocated for and signed the largest budget in state history this year and in previous years. DeSantis has lowered the amount spent every year for the last four years and vetoed over $10B in spending during his time in office. Pritzker's budget is up $16B since he took office.
3. Pritzker brags about his credit upgrades, but IL has the worst state credit rating, FL has the best credit rating.
4. FL has a rainy day fund of $18B. IL rainy day fund is $2B.
5. FL is pushing $78B in road programs and moving planned projects ahead 5-15 years. IL can't even get projects planned, permitted and built in a timely manner, so many projects are left undone and money sits in an account collecting interest. And now that surplus interest is being sent to the CTA to bail them out.
6. DeSantis has given back over $9B in taxes. Pritzker has raised taxes every year for a total of over $77B according to IPI.
9. FL is giving $5,000 signing bonuses for police officers. IL politicians want to defund the police.
10. FL is on the cusp of eliminating property taxes for 60% of home owners and they have no state income tax. IL has the highest property taxes, plus individial income and estate taxes, high corporate taxes, and there's been no attempt to meaningfully lower property taxes.
Yes, elections have consequences. But, it can all ve reversed. DeSantis barely got elected 8 years ago. Your vote matters.
@dgoold Whatever. Ownership said it was up to the fans. They determined the amount of options and then went against the vote of the fans, as we got blue vs Red. Now it is blue vs ? The blue hats are part of Cardinals history and should be in the rotation much more.