Pritzker proposes the largest budget in state history. Last year after the budget address, we reported Governor Pritzker had proposed the largest budget in the state’s history. This year, he has outdone himself – breaking last year’s record.
During his speech to the Illinois General Assembly this week, Governor Pritzker unveiled his priorities and spending plan, setting his total FY26 expenditures at $55.235 billion. The new proposal reflects a nearly $2 billion increase in spending over last year, resulting in a 3.7% increase overall. Moreover, the Governor plans to pay for the new spending with yet-to-be-realized revenue, based in part on aggressive projections that have not been confirmed by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), as well as increased taxes and other gimmicks that will require the legislature’s approval.
State spending under Governor Pritzker has grown exponentially since he took office in 2019. When he took over as Governor, state expenditures were $40.3 billion. Each year since we have seen state spending grow and we now have a budget that is $15 billion higher than when he took office.
At a Capitol press conference immediately following the Governor’s budget address, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie declared that the Governor’s massive spending plan was “dead on arrival.”
House Republicans respond to the Governor's proposed budget:
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie
“Illinois families deserve an honest and transparent government – not one that increases spending by $2 billion and masks a $3.2 billion deficit on paper, setting taxpayers up for a potential tax hike on May 31.
I promised at the start of the year that House Republicans would expose and oppose poor public policy, and this budget proposal is just that. It won’t grow our tax base; it will continue to punish businesses and hardworking Illinoisans.”
Deputy Republican Leader Norine Hammond
“I’m glad that the Governor agrees with us that the health benefits program for undocumented immigrants is unaffordable and unsustainable. However, the Governor only proposed eliminating this program for adults aged 42-64, while keeping the program for undocumented immigrant seniors.
I don’t believe for one second that the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly, which created this benefits program for undocumented immigrants, will agree to this proposed cut. This isn’t real. It’s another fake cut that will be opposed by Democratic legislators, setting Illinois families up for another tax hike.
House Republicans support a balanced budget without gimmicks and tax hikes. We want a budget that prioritizes the needs of Illinois working families and seniors over migrants and illegal immigrants. We will continue to work to pass a balanced budget that protects Illinois taxpayers, properly funds our shared priorities, and makes real reforms to improve our economy.”
Rep. Charlie Meier
“I’m a farmer, and I know that when times are tough you have to cinch your belt to make ends meet. Instead of cutting government waste, lowering your tax burden, and balancing the budget, Governor Pritzker decided to hold a bizarre campaign rally, deflecting blame for his administration’s failures to President Trump.”
Rep. Jeff Keicher
“As Conference Chairman for House Republicans, we have three main priorities for the state budget: 1) Economic growth through reform and good policy, 2) Reducing costs through identifying state agency efficiencies and implementing structural reforms, and 3) NO tax increases. I will advocate strongly for these principles as we debate the Governor’s budget proposal and ultimately pass a new state budget in May.”
Rep. Amy Grant
“The Governor’s proposal is the largest budget in state history, increasing spending by nearly $2 billion,” said Grant. “Instead of cutting waste and making the government more efficient, he is relying on tax hikes and unrealistic revenue assumptions to fund his agenda.”
Rep. John Cabello
“Illinois residents deserve a government that is transparent, efficient, and accountable,” said Cabello. “That’s why I introduced legislation to create the Illinois Department of Government Efficiency – because unlike Governor Pritzker, I believe we should be cutting waste and prioritizing the needs of working families – rather than growing bureaucracy and reckless spending.”
Rep. Dave Severin
“Governor Pritzker’s proposed budget would once again spend a record amount of money, totaling $55.235 billion. That number is over $15 billion higher (a 38% increase) compared to Pritzker’s first budget year (FY20). Severin says it is time for Pritzker and General Assembly Democrats to face the reality that they have over-promised, overspent, and under-delivered for Illinois taxpayers.
Rep. Joe Sosnowski
“Specifically, we should have heard from the Governor today on policies to grow Illinois, lower property taxes, and ending the wasteful taxpayer-funded health benefits for all non-citizens. Instead, the Governor proposed $590 million in new taxes, transfers and other budget gimmicks in an attempt to sustain the uncontrollable spending we have seen over the past six years under his failed leadership.”
Rep. Nicole La Ha
“The Governor’s budget proposal is the largest in state history, and while it attempts to address the deficit, it’s a setup for future tax increases. The projected budget deficit requires careful planning, transparency, and a commitment to responsible spending. It’s a baseline for a plan they hope will work, but the overly optimistic revenue assumptions and proposed $2 billion in additional spending create significant uncertainty. The Governor’s proposal also fails to address the longstanding issues with the PUNS program under DHS, a program that has been failing for over a decade.”
CGFA details the underperformance of Illinois’ economy. In the same week that Gov. Pritzker was suggesting an FY26 budget based on sunny economic projections of statewide economic activity and tax revenues for the coming year, the nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) shared an economic forecast with lawmakers that on many facets painted a different picture.
Working with Moody’s Analytics, CGFA prepared 20-year charts that showed the long-term underperformance of Illinois, relative to other U.S. states, in the fields of economic growth, job creation, and reduction of unemployment. In all of these variables, the data shows Illinois continuously underperforming the economic performance of the U.S. as a whole. In several key economic sectors, Illinois’ long-term performance has been even worse. Over the past 10 years – a period which has seen several economic cycles, a catastrophic recession, and partial recovery – Illinois has lost jobs in the fields of manufacturing and information technology.
Trend lines like these are significant because they can be used to generate a more realistic view of Illinois’ likely employment picture and payroll-tax-related cash flow in the near future, including FY26. While it is not possible to create a fully valid medium-term outlook based solely on trend lines, these long-term structural factors and pressures often create a definitive framework for the interpretation of future events. Economic analysts point out that “Illinois manufacturers will face daunting competition in the global marketplace in the long term.” These competitive pressures may continue to result in reduced job growth, lost jobs, and additional supplementary pressures on the community structures and qualities of life in many significant subregions of Illinois. Regions such as Kankakee, Rockford, the south suburban suburbs of Cook County, Decatur, and sections of the Metro-East have already begun to feel the effects of manufacturing decline patterns like these and have not yet recovered from them.
In a similar way, job losses in information technology and in professional services have held back economic activity in greater Chicago. Recent straws in the wind, such as the movement of an entire electronic stock market from Chicago’s Loop to Dallas, show which way things are going.
Illinois job trends point to potentially lower payroll tax payments to the State in both the short-term and long-term. These moneys are paid in by employers on behalf of their employees as individual income taxes. Individual and personal income tax payments have become the chief income driver of Illinois state government. Any threat to this cash flow is something that the General Assembly should take with great seriousness.
EDUCATION
Push to ban cellphones in Illinois classrooms. Many states are moving to ban or sharply restrict the use of cellphones by students in classrooms. The devices are seen as distracting to students and creating problems with discipline and awareness. More than twelve states have statewide policies that ban, or severely restrict, cellphone use in classrooms. This list of cellphone-ban states includes the neighboring state of Indiana. This week, the Wisconsin state legislature passed a statewide school cellphone ban. Many other states have recommendations in place that encourage local school districts to adopt cellphone bans.
Illinois has been slow to act on a statewide school cellphone ban. Some Illinois school districts have already taken action locally to ban or restrict cellphones in classrooms. Now, faced with evidence of the growing effects of cellphone culture on young people, the General Assembly will likely debate this issue this spring. Other neighboring states, such as Iowa, have already begun moving in this direction.
TRANSPORTATION
Still need a REAL ID? What to know about the upcoming requirements in Illinois. The wait for the long-delayed REAL ID plan may finally be coming to an end next year.
Next May, the federal Department of Homeland Security will require that people have a REAL ID in order to access federal facilities – think military bases – and fly on domestic commercial aircraft.
REAL ID has been in the works for more than 20 years, with numerous delays to the official implementation of the special identification put in place in 2005. […]
Now, REAL ID is set to go into effect fully on May 7, 2025, unless there is another delay.
For Illinois, REAL IDs look similar to that of a regular, standard Illinois driver's license, but with one key difference – a gold star in the upper right denoting the special nature of the ID. Standard driver's licenses have a phrase at the top that says "Federal Limits Apply."
How do you get a REAL ID in Illinois?
People can go to their Illinois Secretary of State's facility in order to receive a REAL ID.
The Secretary of State's Office requires that anyone who wants a REAL ID must have proof of identity, such as a birth certificate or passport, proof of their Social Security number, two residency documents – such as a utility bill or rental statement – and proof of a signature. Read more from the Peoria Journal Star.