Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed the state’s $53.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history.

The signing caps months of work — and tension — among top Democratic leaders in Springfield and within the governor’s office.

Pritzker said Wednesday the budget is a demonstration of “fiscal responsibility,” pointing to the $198 million that will head to the state’s “rainy day” fund, bringing it to a record balance of over $2.2 billion. It will also make the full payment into the state’s pension systems that is required by law.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon flanked Pritzker at the signing alongside Democrats’ chief budget negotiators in the state’s downtown Chicago office building.

Sen. Elgie Sims of Chicago, the lead budget negotiator for the Senate, pointed to several programs that he said will benefit vulnerable Illinoisans, including a tax credit for low-income families and increased wages for those who work with disabled people.

That tax credit will cost $50 million. Qualifying families with children under age 12 will receive a credit of 20% of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit in calendar year 2024 and 40% in the following year, which is projected to cost $100 million. Pritzker had proposed such a credit for children up to age three, but lawmakers expanded the credit.

But even some of the budget’s strongest boosters hinted at the contentious process that produced it.

“This, by no means, was an easy budget, but this is a good budget that invests in families all over the state of Illinois,” said Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, a Democrat from Peoria.

Democrats who control the General Assembly pushed the budget package over the finish line last week after a marathon all-night session in the Illinois House that highlighted internal strife within the majority party.

Upon Pritzker’s signing of the budget, Republicans were quick to criticize it, echoing initial opposition shared last week. The Senate’s top Republican, Sen. John Curran of Downers Grove, denounced the budget’s use of state funds to provide health care benefits for noncitizen residents of the state, calling the situation “grossly unfair.”

The budget includes $629 million — including $440 million general funds — for that health care program, as well as $182 million to provide shelter, health care and other services for recently arrived migrants, many of whom have been bused to the state from Texas.

Republicans uniformly voted against the budget package with the exception of a measure that does away with the state’s 1% tax on groceries, but even some Democrats balked at the budget and voted against either the spending or revenue plans last week.

Amid attendance issues as the night wore on, it took Democratic leaders three tries — and a temporary waiving of the chamber’s own rulebook — to get the minimum 60 votes needed to pass the bill containing new taxes. Earlier in the evening, the spending bill passed by a narrow margin.

During debate over the revenue bill, Democratic Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates lamented that leadership didn’t consider spending controls he’d suggested earlier this spring in his role as chair of the House’s committee on appropriations for general services.

Those suggestions included a hiring freeze for state workers and only giving state agencies 95% of the funds they said they’d need for the fiscal year — allowing them the opportunity to lobby for the remaining 5% next May if the money ended up being truly needed.

He warned about a looming fiscal cliff before voting against the bill, saying, “at this rate, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna run out of taxpayer dollars to spend.”

Asked about Crespo’s comments, Pritzker pushed back, claiming “most Democrats” wouldn’t agree. The governor’s criticism followed social media posts from two of his top deputies aimed at Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who earlier this week told Quincy-based TV station WGEM that she’d have liked to see “perhaps some more cuts across the board.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.