A central Illinois lawmaker is critical of Gov. JB Pritzker's budget proposal laid out last week in the annual budget address.

Rep. Dan Caulkins calls it 'a billionaire's budget' because billionaires don't have to have a budget. He believes the second-term Democrat is using Illinois taxpayers' money to fund pet projects.

According to the Decatur Republican, the Governor is throwing money at problems in this budget hoping it fixes them. He points to education as one of those and the numerous Illinois school districts that have children at the earliest levels not reading or writing at grade level.

The 'Illinois Grovery Initiative' is an attempt to alleviate food deserts in Illinois and Rep. Caulkins says this is a problem as a result of grocery store owners that don't want to do business in Illinois and says it's a model that unsustainable.

Rep. Caulkins believes the fixes to a lot of these issues start at the local level and Illinoisans holding their local leaders accountable. He points out many problems the State faces are man-made.

Rep. Caulkins also notes this impacts the energy policy of Illinois where there are two plants ready to go online but Gov. Pritzker's policy keeps them closed while Illinois families deal with record-high energy costs.