Illinois lawmakers only attach price tags to 10 of 3,859 bills

For most bills filed in Springfield, taxpayers will have to guess at how much more will be demanded of them. Illinois General Assembly members only worried about costs 10 times for 3,859 of their bright ideas about how to improve the state.

Illinois General Assembly members only bothered to check the cost to taxpayers 10 times on 3,859 bills that proposed changes to laws, program, projects or personnel.

There were 415 of those bills sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker after passing both chambers. Just one had a fiscal note estimating the cost of that proposal. With so many ideas for how Illinois should be run and so little attention to the cost, there is little surprise Illinois set a new record for spending with the fiscal year 2026 budget: $55.2 billion.

The question is: How much more will these changes without price tags add in a state where the state and local tax burden tops the nation?

Lawmakers introduced a total of 6,745 bills between January 2025 and the legislature’s May 31 adjournment. Of those, 3,859 proposed changes in how Illinois operated – known as substantive bills. Only 10 carried a fiscal note estimating the burden to taxpayers.

Both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate passed 416 bills that are awaiting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature to become law. Of those, 415 were substantive bills making changes to laws, programs, projects or personnel. Just one had a fiscal note.

If Pritzker signs them, those 415 bills will leave taxpayers burdened not only by the $55.2 billion budget but also by the mystery of what else lawmakers created that they will be expected to pay for, and how much those items will cost.

According to a 2015 study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, more states require fiscal notes on all or almost all bills. The study measured state compliance with five rules of best practice, which include: (1) requiring fiscal notes on all proposals; (2) having fiscal notes prepared by a nonpartisan entity; (3) projecting the long-term impact of the proposal; (4) revising estimates with changes to the proposal; and (5) posting fiscal notes online.

Illinois was one of five states that only complies with one of these practices: in Illinois, the few fiscal notes the state does produce are posted online. But Illinois law allows the sponsor of a bill to determine if it needs a fiscal note. If another lawmaker disagrees, he or she needs to gain the support of a majority of members to generate the price tag.

Taxpayers should know the cost lawmakers expect them to cover before the governor signs a bill into law. To protect taxpayers and hold lawmakers responsible, the state should require fiscal notes for most, if not all bills.