Illinois lawmakers pass budget with federal funding uncertain

Shruti Date Singh, Bloomberg News on Jun 1, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Illinois legislators late Saturday approved a $55 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1, unsure how many federal dollars they can count on during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The Democrat-controlled Illinois House of Representatives and Senate voted on revenue and spending legislation Saturday for the fiscal 2026 budget, which cuts roughly $380 million from current spending. The passage comes amid growing uncertainty about funding coming from Washington. The federal government is struggling with its own surging debt, and Trump wants to push more costs to states.

The legislature passed the state budget right up against the May 31 deadline, when a simple majority is required. After that a super-majority is needed to pass the budget. The Illinois constitution requires the state adopt a balanced budget. Republicans criticized the last-minute moves, ongoing spending increases and some tax hikes in the budget.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker touted the budget as his seventh-consecutive balanced budget that keeps the state’s finances on track.

“Even in the face of Trump and congressional Republicans stalling the national economy, our state budget delivers for working families without raising their taxes while protecting the progress we are making for our long-term fiscal health,” Pritzker said in a statement after the budget passed

Pritzker, a frequent critic of Trump, for months has been warning of potential funding losses from Washington, even though the billionaire Democrat initially proposed a budget in February that showed a small surplus. Pritzker has said no state can backfill the billions of dollars the federal government provides for services such as Medicaid.

The loss of federal funding for any key program could be a big hit for Illinois even though the state has fixed a number of fiscal issues since Pritzker took office in 2019. Over the last several years, the state has passed budgets on time, built up a rainy day fund and increased contributions to its underfunded pensions. Still, its long-term unfunded pension obligations have kept the state with the lowest credit rating among peers.

_____