SPRINGFIELD — After months of negotiating through one of Illinois’ toughest budget seasons in years, state legislators on Friday unveiled a $55.2 billion spending bill that Democratic leaders say bridges an estimated $1 billion shortfall in part through increased gambling and tobacco taxes, along with controversial cuts to immigrant health care.
The budget proposal — revealed about 30 hours before a key state constitutional deadline to pass it — largely follows the spending priorities laid out earlier this year by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, coming in about $200 million lower than his February proposal, officials said.
It includes more than $1 billion in estimated new revenue through heightened “sin taxes” on some casino games, tobacco and vape products, as well as through an amnesty program intended to collect more money from tax delinquents.
And it follows through with the governor’s proposed savings of some $400 million by cutting the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program — a politically perilous reduction that threatens health care coverage for nearly 33,000 people between the ages of 42 and 64 in Illinois without legal status.
“That’s in recognition of the challenges that we’re seeing coming out of Washington and the devastating effects that those proposals are having on our state and states across the country,” said state Sen. Elgie Sims, the Chicago Democrat who serves as top budget negotiator.
But the plan also includes almost 5% pay raises for legislators, an increase that officials said was tied to inflation.
A full rundown of the tax increases wasn’t immediately available, but Sims said “we’re trying to make sure that individuals pay their fair share, and corporations who are the most profitable also pay their fair share.”
Pritzker’s proposal banked on $100 million by taxing casino table games at the same graduated rates applied to slot machines.
“This budget is balanced, it’s responsible and it’s a statement of our priorities,” said Sims, adding that there are “no broad-based tax increases in this budget.”
A spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said the plan includes about $382 million in cuts “to government administration” and includes “management tools to prepare for possible federal disruption or shortfall.”
A tough budget year got even tougher last month when a state analysis revealed revenues are on track to fall $471 million short of the total projected in the governor’s proposal, further complicating a fiscal situation clouded by potential federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The cuts to immigrant health care, vehemently opposed by the General Assembly’s Latino Caucus, could pose one of the biggest obstacles to passage. A boost in funding to federally qualified health care centers was intended to offset some of the losses in coverage, Senate sources said.
That won’t be enough, according to state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero.
“It’s heartbreaking. And it doesn’t mean the cost is going to go away,” said Hernandez, referring to people who will show up at emergency rooms for care. “This program actually was a way to approach it in a much more cost-effective way.”
Hernandez said she and her Latino Caucus colleagues had to fight to keep a separate program in the budget at $110 million to provide health coverage for people 65 and older without legal status.
Asked if she’ll support the budget, Hernandez — a Democratic deputy majority leader — said: “We’ll see.”
Earlier in the day, legislative leaders swatted aside the possibility of internal strife in hammering out a spending plan among moderate and progressive members of Democratic supermajorities in the Capitol.
“We’re all on the same page,” Illinois Senate President Don Harmon said after a meeting with Pritzker and Welch. “We expect to be working together all the way through the final passage of the budget.”
Pritzker stressed earlier in the week that he would veto any spending plan that hikes income taxes or sales taxes.
The proposed budget would increase legislators’ annual salaries to $98,304, up from $93,712.
Republicans in the state house, relegated to super-minority status, were still reviewing the proposal late Friday. State GOP chair Kathy Salvi preemptively lambasted the Democratic spending plan that she said “treats Illinois families as a piggy bank for do-nothing policies and a bloated budget that prioritizes physician-assisted suicide and illegal immigrants.”
Lawmakers generally wait until the last minute or overtime to pass a budget. But there’s an added pressure to avert any “overtime” session and pass a budget with a simple majority by midnight Saturday. Under the state Constitution, bills up for a vote on June 1 or later require a three-fifths majority — likely too high a threshold for consensus even among Democratic supermajorities in a difficult budget year.
And smooth budget passage without unpopular tax hikes is important to Pritzker as he ponders his political future. The governor still hasn’t announced if he will seek a third term — and he has long been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
His office didn’t have any immediate comment on the bill. After his meeting with Harmon and Welch, Pritzker said, “We’re all moving forward.”
As lawmakers wrangled over the budget, the future of mass transit in the Chicago area remained up in the air as the legislative clock winds down.
Legislators were largely in agreement Thursday on the new governance structure of the proposed new Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the CTA, Metra and Pace — but funding proposals that included a toll hike were dead on arrival amid opposition from suburban leaders and organized labor.
An amended bill was expected Saturday morning.