Majority Party Democrats had mixed reactions last week to Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget address, with leadership in the General Assembly offering praise amid criticisms from members of the legislature’s Black and Latino caucuses.

The governor’s budget speech — which outlined a $2 billion spending increase without new taxes on everyday Illinoisans — also drew immediate criticism from Republicans, some of whom left the House floor as he drew parallels between the Trump administration and Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus together include about a quarter of all lawmakers in the General Assembly. Several of them pushed back on the governor’s proposal, which he called “responsible and balanced.”

“This is not a time for celebration,” Sen. Willie Preston, a Chicago Democrat, said at a news conference. “Budgets reveal the morals and the values of our state. In Illinois, Black communities contribute significantly to the economy, yet when the budget is finalized, those contributions are not flowing back into our community.”

At least two Black Caucus members said they wouldn’t vote for Pritzker’s proposal as it stands today — though the February budget proposal only kicks off negotiations each year, with a budget vote coming generally in May after lawmakers make changes.

Sen. Javier Cervantes, a Chicago Democrat, said the Latino Caucus was “profoundly disappointed” in Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a health care program for many immigrants.

But other Democrats, like moderate veteran House member Fred Crespo, of Hoffman Estates, praised Pritzker’s address as the best he’s heard in his near-two decades in the General Assembly, saying he was heartened to hear the governor vow to ask for legislators to suggest budget cuts commensurate to spending increases they might propose.

Republicans, meanwhile, took exception to the governor’s tone during his address, accusing him of using the opportunity to further his rumored ambitions for higher office. Still, several Republicans suggested there is room for collaboration on some of Pritzker’s policy proposals relating to economic development and prescription drug affordability.

Black Caucus members said the governor’s proposed budget does not adequately address “historical disparities” within the state’s Black communities and does not reflect the priorities of Black Illinoisans.

Preston said Black taxpayers are not getting their “fair cuts” of state aid.

Rep. Carol Ammons, an Urbana Democrat, said she will not vote for the budget until the Black community receives more resources.

As hundreds gathered around the podium on the Capitol rotunda where the caucus gave its response, Rep. Will Davis, a Homewood Democrat, asked for the crowd’s opinion on the proposal.

“Did you hear something that applies directly to you?” he asked. “Did you hear something in that budget speech that talks about you? And your priorities? And your family? And your employment? And your community? Did you hear it? I didn’t.”

Davis later said he would vote ‘present’ on the budget as of now.

Other Black Caucus members were more supportive. Sen. Elgie Sims, who has led budget negotiations for the Senate Democratic caucus for the last several years, said Pritzker’s proposal is a “great first step.” The Chicago Democrat said he doesn’t have any major issues with the proposal but wants additional details on a few items.

“I often say — and I’ve said this to our caucus on a number of different occasions — there are infinite needs with finite resources,” Sims said. “From our perspective, that’s why these next couple of months, as we go through negotiations, we’re going to have to match those infinite needs to the finite resource we have.”

Sims said members need to be responsible and prudent on this year’s budget due to “so much unpredictability coming out of D.C.”

Pritzker’s proposed budget would eliminate the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program that provides coverage to low-income people between ages 42 and 64 who would qualify for Medicaid if they were citizens. Pritzker’s office projected the cut would save $330 million in general fund spending. Its sister program, Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors, was not cut from the proposed budget.

Pritzker said he’d work with lawmakers on his proposal but urged them not to come to negotiations empty-handed.

“If you come to the table looking to spend more, I’m going to ask you where you want to cut,” Pritzker said.

Members of the Latino Caucus said they were going to go through the budget “line-by-line” to try and keep HBIA on the table.

“We will be talking about other options, revenue options, and other options that could be on the table to make sure that all of our programs are preserved,” Rep. Lilian Jiménez, a Chicago Democrat, said.

Caucus members said Pritzker did not inform them before the budget address that HBIA was on the chopping block.

“All of us have been hearing that it was going to be a tough budget year. I think that we expected there to be some things in the budget that we weren’t going to be happy with,” Sen. Karina Villa, a West Chicago Democrat, said. “But I think completely removing a program is not anything that we were expecting.”

On the substance of the governor’s budget plan, House Republicans said there appear to be some areas for potential for bipartisan agreement, such as calls for lowering the cost of prescription drugs and investing in economic development initiatives.

Other Democrats said they wanted to know what the governor’s contingency plans are if there are major cuts to federal funding.

Speaking as the chair of the “New Democrats” caucus, a recently rebranded caucus of roughly two dozen moderate Illinois House members, Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Glen Ellyn Democrat, said HBIA’s elimination should tell Democrats to think differently about funding requests.

“It’s a positive step toward acknowledging that the accountability of programs and the programs needs to be better before we pass the law,” she said.

Crespo continued his criticism of Democrats for passing bills that are “subject to appropriation” yet not funded in the budget — creating future-year spending pressures and giving “folks a false sense of hope.”

“When we pass legislation or appropriation bills, we need to do a better job on the front end to make sure that we understand potentially how much it’s going to cost,” Crespo said.

Both Costa Howard and Crespo were among a group of Democrats who opposed elements of the FY25 budget last spring, in a rare dissent from Pritzker and their caucus’ leadership.

They both agreed that they’d like to see a return to empowering appropriations committees to better police funding requests. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Hillside Democrat, has increasingly relied on internal working groups composed of House Democrats to craft major legislation on key subjects, rather than allowing them to come together through the committee process.

“If we don’t go back and start using our aprops (appropriations) committees, then what is the point?” Costa Howard said. “It’s a waste of everyone’s time.”

• CNI staff Hannah Meisel and Jerry Nowicki contributed to this report.