SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $55.2 billion spending plan with an unexpected “budget surplus” — but noted the uncertainty of state funding under President Donald Trump, while also nixing a health care program for adults who lack legal status to save the state millions.
The Democratic governor also peppered his seventh budget blueprint — which Republicans derided as the largest in state history — with key policy proposals for the upcoming fiscal year. One ensures medication abortion pills would remain legal in Illinois even if a federal ban is enacted, and another bans cell phones in Illinois schools during classroom instruction.
The governor’s office noted the uncertainty of federal funding with Trump in the White House, and the impact on Illinois’ budget.
“I think this is easiest said by saying that no one can predict what Donald Trump is going to do, and therefore we cannot predict what the totality of a potential impact would be on the state budget,” a senior administration official with the governor’s office said during a briefing with reporters Wednesday morning.
Pritzker is set to deliver his seventh State of the State and joint budget address at the Illinois State Capitol on Wednesday at noon. He planned to call out Trump for his tax plan imposed through tariffs.
Pritzker’s budget plan excludes funding for health care for immigrant adults who lack legal status and are between the ages of 42 and 64. Last year, the Democratic governor included $629 million to provide health care benefits to immigrants without legal status 42 and up, and seniors who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid.
The governor’s office called that intentional omission a reflection of difficult decisions being made to bring the proposal into balance. The office, however, said funding for health care for seniors who lack legal status will be maintained. The program for adults will end June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Members of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus are among legislators upset about the program cut — and plan to try to fight to keep it in this year’s budget.
In Pritzker’s third year of his early education program Smart Start, he kept Illinois State Board of Education’s early education block grants flat at $748 million — despite having increased that number by $75 million in years one and two.
Education funding includes the required $350 million towards the state’s school funding formula — although advocates continue to warn they will put up a fight for more than that. The total K-12 funding under the governor’s proposal totals $11.1 billion in general funds — marking an increase of $300 million from last year.
Revenue for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 is estimated at $55.4 billion, a 2.9% increase from last year. That’s due to base revenue growth in the state — and it’s about $1.5 billion more than the state predicted in a report in November. The state must produce revenue for a $1.7 billion deficit — still large but better than what the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget in November projected as a $3.2 billion deficit.
And the governor’s office said it plans to ask legislators to approve a supplemental bill to the tune of $550 million.
Pritzker’s budget team is banking on $100 million in new revenue by taxing casino table games at the same graduated rates applied to slot machines. The tax structure had been eased for table games like blackjack and craps under a 2019 gaming expansion championed that introduced six new casinos to the state.
The adjusted rates wouldn’t apply to the Chicago casino, which has its own loftier taxes.
The governor didn’t address the possibility of legalizing internet gambling, which has been pushed by Democratic proponents who argue that allowing residents to play slot machines and blackjack on their cellphones could generate hundreds of millions for the state. Supporters from the Sports Betting Alliance argue it’s “already happening in the state in an illegal and unregulated manner,” but opponents have argued it could boost gambling addiction.
Nor did he address the $700 million-plus fiscal cliff facing Chicago area transit agencies in 2026, which has prompted calls to reform or even merge the CTA, Metra, Pace and Regional Transportation Authority. That is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, which would have to be directed from other state funds.
Pritzker’s budget team said they’re working with lawmakers to “have a solution on the table that everyone can agree to” by the end of session in May.
The revenue plan also includes $171 million from pausing the final shift of state sales taxes on motor fuel purchases to the Road Fund.
Budget negotiations are expected to continue through the end of May, the deadline for lawmakers to pass a spending plan.