Illinois leaders on Monday reacted to the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second term in office – a year marked by major changes to border security, grocery prices and the stock market.
The migrant crisis that dominated the news in Chicago before President Trump was elected remained a persistent issue throughout the past year. As the White House sees it, there were promises made and promises kept. Naturally, there’s a sharp divide along party lines.
Among what President Trump highlighted as his first-year accomplishments was the recent arrests in Minnesota during immigration enforcement.
Trump promised — a year ago — the largest mass deportation program ever. Not just Minnesota, but Chicago and the suburbs witnessed it as well.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday discussed how Illinoisians responded.
“We wrote the playbook that’s being used in other cities across the country,” he said. “If you look at how Portland managed through, if you look how Minneapolis has pushed back.”
As the Illinois General Assembly returns this week to Springfield for the spring session – crafting a state budget is far more uncertain. The state’s Medicaid program alone could see up to a $5 billion dollar hit – as 60% is federally funded, and the White House is cutting back.
“I think the federal government is holding states like Illinois accountable, accountable for high error rates, accountable for a lack of transparency, holding us accountable for fraud,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said.
As for the stock market, while it was volatile on Monday, record gains were reported over the past year.
At the same time, the key message from politicians – Republican and Democrat — is “affordability,” knowing Americans are worried.
“For me it has been very scary. It’s like I’m basically living day to day to figure out what’s going to drop next,” an Illinois mother said.
The political war of words intensified over the past year.
Shortly after Trump took office – Pritzker compared Trump’s actions to what took place in Germany in the 1930s. Trump vs. Pritzker is a near-daily battle.
“The difference for me, I guess, is people are paying attention, maybe not just in Illinois but outside of Illinois, to the idea that speaking your mind, being straightforward, is what we should demand of all of our politicians,” Pritzker said.
McCombie criticized the governor, saying, “Obviously, Governor Pritzker, although he hasn’t stated it, is running for president and unfortunately puts Illinois in a negative limelight with the federal government.”
