A bill that passed Thursday in Springfield is being criticized by Illinois Republicans not only because it will be a tax increase on Illinois employers and workers but because it was preventable.

State Senator Chapin Rose explains the Illinois unemployment fund has had a deficit for almost two years now and instead of using federal dollars that will have to get paid back to shore up that fund, they used it to create new spending.

According to Sen. Rose, Illinois Democrats ignoring the shortfall in the unemployment fund is sticking employers and employees with the largest tax increase the sector has ever seen.

Initially, the bill was not going to have support from most Illinois Democrats so things have been sweetened in the bill to make it palatable for those Democrats to support.

For Sen. Rose, the issue he has is this was a problem two years ago and Republicans in Springfield warned that it was going on, and instead of dealing with it, they willfully ignored it.

The Mahomet Republican believes this is going to hinder job creators in the future and prevent current employers from replacing employees to make up for the increase in these costs.