Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday framed the latest $55.9 billion state budget as shelter for many of Illinois’ lower-income residents “to weather the economic destruction and chaos” of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The eighth spending plan of Pritzker’s tenure includes $100 million for food assistance in the wake of deep funding cuts, with $70 million earmarked for one-time $400 payments for families who have lost SNAP benefits.
It also includes $250 million additional funding for affordable housing programs and a regular $350 million increase in the evidence-based funding formula for schools, as part of what amounts to a maintenance budget in the face of economic headwinds that Pritzker pinned on Trump.
“In a year marked by economic uncertainty, rising costs and unprecedented fiscal challenges created by Donald Trump and the MAGA Congress, Illinois has once again demonstrated that responsible governing and balanced budgets go hand-in-hand with making life more affordable for working families and investing in the future,” Pritzker said before signing the budget package at the state’s West Loop offices.
In their annual late-session, overnight budget marathon, Democrats who control all levers of state government suspended a scheduled increase in state’s motor fuel tax, although that won’t exactly tip the balance for drivers facing soaring gas prices. It would’ve increased a little more than a cent per gallon, and it’s only paused for six months.
Lawmakers also implemented a back-to-school sales tax holiday from Aug. 7-16 for supplies, clothing and other goods, as Democrats nationwide zero in on voters’ pocketbook issues ahead of midterm elections in November.
“Fiscal responsibility is more than an end unto itself,” Pritzker said before the bill-signing, which took place a couple of hours after he played coy about his potential 2028 White House ambitions during a Chicago interview with Punchbowl News.
“It’s how we are so far able to weather the economic destruction and chaos of the Trump administration that’s being visited on our most vulnerable, and it’s how we help working families better afford the essentials of everyday life,” said Pritzker, who’s running for a third term as governor.
The budget was balanced in part with revenue from new taxes that are likely to face court challenges, including a tax that social media giants like Facebook and TikTok will pay based on the number of Illinois users they have, as well as a tax on daily fantasy sports companies expected to generate $5 million.
Lawmakers are banking on some $200 million from the social media tax similar to the one that has resulted in a windfall for the City of Chicago, but faces a lawsuit from Big Tech companies dead-set against having more governments come to the well.
Budget leaders aren’t banking on revenue from other new tax streams that are sure to get tied up in court, including levies on digital advertising, prediction markets and cryptocurrency markets. Pritzker said “we feel much more confident about the social media platform fee” standing up in court.
Springfield’s super-minority Republicans roundly rejected the budget.
“Illinois families deserve real solutions to the rising cost of living, not nearly $56 billion in spending, $800 million in new taxes, and the same budget gimmicks that have failed taxpayers for years,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said in a statement. “The governor is fully accountable for a budget that puts government growth ahead of affordability and leaves Illinois families paying the price.”
Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, called it “a missed opportunity to make structural, positive change for our state.”
“It does nothing to address the structural deficits that directly result in Illinois being a bottom-six state in both economic growth and job opportunities under Gov. Pritzker,” Curran said.
Pritzker had to issue a partial veto to clean up typos and other drafting errors in the budget legislation, including an errant $500 billion line item — perhaps a side effect of lawmakers’ habit of dragging their final budget talks into the wee hours of the spring session.
