In the waning hours of the final day of the spring session, Illinois Democrats passed a massive spending plan contained in the Fiscal Year 2026 Illinois State Budget.
The budget passed by the Democratic majority will spend $55.2 billion, which is nearly $2 billion more than the FY25 enacted budget. State spending has increased by more than $15 billion, a 38% increase since Governor JB Pritzker took office in 2019.
Deputy Republican Leader Norine Hammond (R-Macomb), who serves as the chief budgeteer for the Illinois House Republican Caucus, criticized Democrats for their out-of-control spending.
“The tax-and-spend budget passed by Illinois Democrats is completely irresponsible. It’s a $55 billion budget that relies on $1 billion in new taxes, a massive number of fund sweeps, and hundreds of millions of dollars in Road Fund diversions.
What’s in this budget? Pay raises for politicians. Nearly $250 million in pork projects for Democratic legislators aka the ‘Democratic Majority Slush Fund’ and an additional $100 million slush fund for the Governor.
This budget continues to provide taxpayer-funded Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors, another $110 million in spending for illegal immigrants.
This budget cuts funding for higher education. Our state universities are seeing a two percent reduction in funding from the Governor’s introduced budget.”