“Many days too late, a budget was finally agreed upon by the governor and the downstate progressive leaders of the Legislature which spends far too much at $212 billion, or a 22 percent increase over two years. Even still, with all this additional spending, it does too little to help our struggling upstate residents and communities. One of the most troubling aspects of the budget is that a new program giving handouts to illegal immigrants, a pet project of progressives, was funded at twice the level of small business recovery aid. It is clear these priorities are out of line with the hard-working taxpayers of the state.”