Tarver Responds to Pritzker Budget Address

SPRINGFIELD, Ill – After Governor JB Pritzker presented his first annual budget address to the General Assembly, state Rep. Curtis Tarver II, D-Chicago, issued the following statement:

“Communities like mine on the South Side were hit hardest during Bruce Rauner’s budget crisis. Social service organizations, including violence prevention and after school programs, were shut down while working families lost childcare. Low-income college students were forced to either take out thousands of dollars in student loans or postpone their dreams of a higher education when the MAP grant program lost funding. Governor Pritzker’s address gives me hope that we are on the road to recovery.

“As the father of a CPS student, Pritzker’s plan to increase funding for education puts the schools in my neighborhood will come one step closer to being fairly funded. Raising the threshold for childcare assistance like Pritzker has suggested will empower thousands of parents across the state to go back to school or get a job to lift themselves out of poverty.

“The plan to implement a progressive income tax, raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals in Illinois while giving a break to working families, would allow the vast majority of people in my district to keep more money in their pockets to spend at local businesses, save up for education or put away for retirement. I’m looking forward to working with the governor and my colleagues in the House to negotiate a budget that reflects these priorities.”

The 25th District includes all or parts of Kenwood, Hyde Park, South Shore, South Chicago, Calumet Heights, South Deering and East Side.