{"id":39478,"date":"2026-06-01T06:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=39478"},"modified":"2026-06-01T07:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:07:21","slug":"state-budget-approved-early-this-morning-totals-55-9-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/39478-state-budget-approved-early-this-morning-totals-55-9-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"State Budget Approved Early This Morning; Totals $55.9 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>House Democrats surround St. Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) as they vote on the Fiscal Year 2027 as they vote in the early hours on Monday, June 1, 2026 (Capitol News Illinois by Jerry Nowicki)<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gas tax increase suspended while new taxes on businesses plug revenue hole<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By BEN SZALINSKI<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:news@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">news@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Democrats largely joined together to support the Fiscal Year 2027 budget as Republicans warned the plan will harm the state\u2019s financial picture.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The budget totals about $56 billion and is just slightly less than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February, though it incorporates key taxes and revenue changes he proposed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The spending plan is the largest in state history and includes funding for local governments along with full funding of the state\u2019s K-12 Evidence-Based Funding formula.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New taxes would be implemented on social media companies based on the number of users in the state, along with prediction markets, fantasy sports and digital assets.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Republicans bashed the plan\u2019s hasty passage while Democrats defended the new taxes and spending, citing the Trump administration\u2019s cuts.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary is written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2014 Illinois lawmakers approved the state budget early Monday morning after slogging through the night, enacting new taxes on businesses and authorizing less spending than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s allowed us to be prepared for the great reality we face today,\u201d Senate Democrats budget leader Elgie Sims, of Chicago, said during debate. \u201cThe reality of federal cuts. The reality of chaos coming from Washington &#8230; We are not placing blame. We are prepared. We are not acting on fear. We are acting responsibly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The budget totals $55.9 billion, supported by a similar amount of revenue. The spending plan included an $830 million supplemental current-year spending plan, meaning the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget is essentially flat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To get it across the finish line, Democrats \u2014 especially progressives \u2014 had to temper their expectations. Many had called for new progressive revenue measures throughout the session, including taxes on big corporations and billionaires and for Illinois to untie itself from parts of the federal tax code.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, the measure freezes corporate net operating loss and taxes on social media companies, digital assets, fantasy sports, tobacco and sports betting on prediction market websites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Democrats also sought to include at least a few measures that address affordability. It freezes the 1.3-cent gas tax increase that\u2019s slated for July 1, pushing it to January. It also creates a sales tax holiday on school supplies from Aug. 7-16.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Republicans, meanwhile, said the relief didn\u2019t go nearly far enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe&#8217;re not going to raise the gas tax in July, we&#8217;re just going to wait a couple more months, so we can raise it at the end of the year after election time,\u201d Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said, adding sarcastically that there was a \u201clot of courage coming out of that side of the aisle and the governor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Path to passage<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its passage comes after an spring session thrust further into unpredictability\u00a0 by the war in Iran and federal policy changes. Budget analysts for the General Assembly and governor\u2019s office tempered revenue expectations just weeks ago, citing growing pessimism over the economy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 3,700-page spending plan and associated implementation bill were introduced late Saturday evening and about 200 additional pages were added around 2 a.m. on Monday. But other components of the budget, including the capital and revenue bills, were not filed until mid-afternoon on Saturday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThirteen million people expect us to do our jobs in the openness of daylight within the months and weeks leading up to a May 31 deadline each year, not in the final few hours of darkness,\u201d Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Channahon, said as the Senate took up the spending bill around 2:30 a.m. \u201cIt&#8217;s highly embarrassing to the 13 million people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No Republicans voted for the plan, though some House lawmakers said they were at least more involved in budget negotiations than in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s been very recent communication, but it\u2019s certainly better than no communication at all, which has been, of course, the status quo for many years,\u201d Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, told reporters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The spending measure, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilga.gov\/Legislation\/BillStatus?GAID=18&amp;DocNum=111&amp;DocTypeID=HB&amp;LegId=155787&amp;SessionID=114\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Bill 111<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, passed the Senate 37-21 after 3 a.m. Monday morning. The House followed around 4:15 a.m. with a 76-39vote, followed by the budget implementation bill, House Bill 2949. The revenue and tax changes, Senate Bill 3019, passed the House around 11:15 p.m. on a 73-41 vote, followed by the Senate around 12:30 a.m. with only Democratic votes as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Tax increases and revenue maneuvers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The budget also calls for transferring $150 million in sales tax revenue from gas to the General Revenue Fund once public transportation is fully funded, opening that revenue up to be spent on any purpose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;If you\u2019re a driver who is irritated by the high price of gas that you\u2019re paying, you should be extra irritated when you where the funds are going,\u201d Spain said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, aired similar concerns earlier on Sunday during committee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe ought to be suspending the sales tax on motor fuel right now \u2013 not diverting it to the General Revenue Fund, and not diverting it, oddly to the exact same dollar amount that we got for illegal immigrants and welcoming centers,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That state plans to spend $143 million on a healthcare program for undocumented immigrant seniors and another $4 million on welcoming centers that provide services to immigrants arriving in Illinois.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawmakers incorporated a pair of the tax changes that Pritzker had proposed in February. One would lower the cap on corporate net operating loss deductions for business. Another would impose a tax on social media companies based on the number of users the platform has in Illinois. Combined, those would generate $500 million in new revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media companies would be taxed on a progressive scale starting with platforms with 100,000 to 499,999 users paying 10 cents per month for each user all the way up to platforms with at least 1 million users paying a $165,000 fee plus 50 cents for each user each month. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.wttw.com\/2026\/03\/13\/tech-group-sues-chicago-over-first-nation-social-media-tax\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">similar tax<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Chicago is already tied up in court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New taxes on digital asset sales and fantasy sports are expected to generate $65 million. The state would create a licensing structure for fantasy sports operators and impose a 15% tax on each business \u2014 something Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said the industry themselves requested.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consumers purchasing tires will also see a 50-cent increase in a tax on those purchases, which primarily funds a waste disposal fund.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sports bets on prediction markets and remote tobacco retailers would also be taxed under the plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis state is addicted to spending money it doesn&#8217;t have,\u201d Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City. \u201cIt\u2019s addicted to creating programs that it can&#8217;t afford. It&#8217;s addicted to making promises it can&#8217;t keep, and it&#8217;s addicted to coming back to the taxpayers constantly, constantly to clean up the mess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The revenue package also creates a Targeted Advertising Services Tax, which is more commonly known as a digital ad tax. However, lawmakers expect the tax will also face legal challenges and are not planning to gather revenue from it in FY27. Tarver said the goal was to create a framework to implement the tax later if it\u2019s held up in court. Keith Staats, president of the Illinois Taxpayers Federation, told a House committee the tax likely violates federal internet freedom laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The budget package does not eliminate tax incentives for data centers, despite Pritzker calling for it in his budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other spending in the budget appears to rely on numerous fund sweeps that redirect money from one program to another or to the state\u2019s General Revenue Fund. One of those sweeps includes transferring $70 million from the BRIDGE program \u2014 created last year to allow Pritzker to allocate funding to programs that fall short in funding because of federal cuts \u2014 to the Fund for Illinois\u2019 Future for infrastructure projects and other grants. Money in that fund is typically earmarked for specific projects in Democratic legislative districts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the spending bill stipulates that $70 million from the BRIDGE Fund should go to a new program to fill gaps in food assistance programs, which led to some confusion among lawmakers debating the bill in the House.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Spending<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said the budget includes about $65 million in reductions for government operations, a relatively small cut in the budget. She said no government staff would be laid off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMost important in this moment, this budget is not balanced on the backs of working families,\u201d Gabel said. \u201cThat means no taxes on working people, and no severe cuts to critical services they depend on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The budget would establish a program to help people who have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/150000-illinois-households-may-lose-federal-food-assistance-beginning-may-1\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">federal government institutes new restrictions on eligibility<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Under the new Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, or FRESH Program, people who have lost or seen their SNAP benefits reduced would be eligible for a one-time $400 payment. The program is scheduled to last just one year and is estimated to cost about $70 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following Wilhour\u2019s address, Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock, D-Villa Park, pointed a finger at the federal government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI will not be lectured about excessive state spending at a time when I am watching billion- dollar ballrooms being built, private jets being flown around by staff to go to their girlfriend&#8217;s concerts, while SNAP benefits are cut, while Medicaid is cut, while Medicare is cut, while people are desperately trying to get health care,\u201d she said. \u201cWe as a state are trying to fill in gaps created by the federal government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Funding for local governments will increase. Lawmakers allowed the percentage of the income tax that they receive to stay flat at 6.47%. Because of natural income tax growth, their total dollar amount received will grow \u2014 Pritzker had proposed reducing the percentage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mayors vigorously lobbied lawmakers this spring not to cut the percentage and Sims told reporters on Sunday morning that senators agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois lawmakers are also in line for a roughly 3% pay raise, which will bring their base salaries to $101,450. State law indexes their pay each year to the rate of inflation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill also fully funds pensions and the state\u2019s Evidence-Based Funding model for K-12 education, including a property tax relief component. However, districts receiving those grants will need to forgo property tax increases for three years, rather than two as current law requires.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Higher education will only receive a 1% increase next year \u2014 the second year in a row new funding was below the rate of inflation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Direct service providers will receive a 60-cent wage increase, half of what is recommended. The budget also does not include any increase in the \u201crainy day\u201d fund.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Democrats surround St. Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) as they vote on the Fiscal Year 2027 as they vote in the early hours on Monday, June 1, 2026 (Capitol News [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":39495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State Budget Approved Early This Morning; Totals $55.9 Billion - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/39478-state-budget-approved-early-this-morning-totals-55-9-billion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State Budget Approved Early This Morning; 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