Now that Britain has voted to exit the European Union, this might be a good time to hold that long discussed referendum on Chicago seceding from the state of Illinois.

Once and for all, we’ll put to rest the question of who needs who more, or who is a bigger drain on the other.

This week marks what could be the most significant benchmark in the long, painful slog of Republicans’ and Democrats’ historic war over the Illinois budget.

Thursday is the end of a full year without a state budget — plus another blown deadline to make a budget for the new fiscal year that starts Friday.

As IIlinois prepares for a possible second year without a budget, state troopers still patrol the roads, state parks are open for visitors and the Driver Services Department is handing out driver’s licenses.

But unpaid bills are piling up to the tune of $8 billion, according to the state comptroller.

A California bus manufacturer had to put the brakes on a contract to build a new fleet to service Chicago’s suburbs and is now owed millions.

Nonprofits have cut hundreds of workers as they struggle to deliver services without any payments from the state for a year.

And officials for the Illinois State Fair are busy planning this summer’s annual fete while still owing more than $1.5 million to vendors—from rock bands to portable-toilet providers—who worked last year’s fair, a spokeswoman said.

A yearlong budget battle is set to push Illinois into uncharted waters.

No state has gone without a budget for a full year since at least the 1930s, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

State Comptroller Leslie Munger announced that come July 1, her office will be forced to stop $23 billion in spending for schools, 911 call centers, domestic violence shelters, federally funded social and human services and higher education.