SPRINGFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) believes the governor’s proposed budget is a good starting point, but she wants to see a greater focus on education as negotiations move forward. In response to the governor’s proposal, she issued the following statement:

“Overall, the governor’s proposal is a good starting point. It funds preschool. It funds the criminal justice reform law we just passed. It provides additional funding for programs to keep older adults and people with disabilities in their homes.

“However, I think we need to have a bigger conversation about K-12 education funding. If we follow this plan, it will be the second year in a row that we don’t fulfill our commitment to increase funding to Illinois public schools. I understand this is a difficult budget year because of the pandemic, but our kids and teachers in low-income communities cannot and should not have to wait forever to see the funding increases they were promised.”