Illinois’s $55.2 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 will officially take effect.  That’s after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed it into law Monday morning.  The budget features significant investments in education and healthcare and comes with around $700 million in new taxes.

State lawmakers are now reacting to the signing, doing so in support or opposition largely along party lines.  State Senator Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago), who serves as Majority Caucus Appropriations Leader, is praising the budget, saying it invests in the whole person and will help people and businesses prosper.

Likewise, State Representative Regan Deering (R-Decatur) calls the signing “shameful” and criticizes the governor for – in her view – not following through on his word to balance increased spending with equal cuts.  Governor Pritzker remarked in his State of the State address in February that, if the General Assembly called for increased spending, he would ask where to make cuts.  Data from Illinois Policy show this budget is up over 40% from what Pritzker inherited when taking office. 

The budget – the full text of which can be found at budget.illinois.gov – passed out of the General Assembly two weeks ago.