Lawmakers begin debate today over Gov. Jim Pillen’s push for so-called “historic tax cuts”, as critics argue the administration is leaving those who need help the most, left out on their own.

That’s the bottom line as lawmakers begin this year’s multi-billion-dollar budget fight.

Pillen says the state has ‘bushel baskets’ of cash, money handed out by Washington during the pandemic.

The economic forecasting board recently said it expects the state to end the year with $6.3 billion, one percent less than it predicted earlier. But according to Pillen, that means “full speed ahead” on his package of record setting tax cuts.

However, according to the left-leaning think tank Open Sky, for $530 million “less than the cost of tax cuts over the next two years” the state could, among other things, increase affordable housing, provide free lunches for all school students, and expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit.

Open Sky says that’s money better spent than the Governor’s tax cuts which “largely benefit wealthy residents and out-of-state corporations.”