End of veto session highlights: Statements from Illinois Policy

CHICAGO (Oct. 31, 2025) – Lawmakers concluded veto session today after taking action on several key bills that affect taxpayers.

Pensions: 
A bill that would increase Tier 2 pension benefits and add at least $52.7 billion in statewide pension debt passed committee and sits on second reading in the Illinois House of Representatives.

“These sweeping changes are not only unnecessary, but their financial impact hasn’t been effectively studied. Sweetening these pensions will add significant debt to the state and crowd out services for residents while raising taxes on future Illinoisans. Illinois lawmakers should not move to pass any bills that make unnecessary pension changes or worsen the state’s crisis,” said Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at Illinois Policy. 

Transit: 
A comprehensive package to overhaul the Regional Transit Authority and bring in new revenue passed the General Assembly. Among the funding mechanisms are $860 million in gas taxes from the transportation fund and an option for the RTA to increase sales taxes rates across the Chicago area.

Also included is an increase on tolls across the state: a 45-cent increase on cars as well as a 30% increase on other vehicles. This will not fund transit but was introduced for union labor upset about transportation funds being used on transit, instead of road construction.

“While state leaders pivoted from disastrous funding scenarios that would have burdened downstate residents and non-riders with new taxes, this package does not do enough to reduce wasteful spending. Lawmakers missed a chance to provide meaningful consolidation, opting to largely reallocate resources and maintain the status quo. A better bill would’ve extensively cut waste and consolidated duplicative functions across the four transit agencies, re-aligned services to match current ridership and it would’ve been funded by increasing rider fares, returning prices to pre-pandemic levels and drawing from the $3 billion surplus in the transportation fund. Instead, state leaders catered to union pressure, made driving on toll roads less affordable and left the door open for Chicago shoppers to see the highest sales tax in the nation. This may not be the end of this fiasco. If Chicago doesn’t become a growing environment that attracts new businesses and residents, we will continue to see long-term ridership and funding problems,” said Micky Horstman, communications associate for Illinois Policy.

Energy: 
The Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 25, an energy bill that lifts the ban on constructing large-scale nuclear reactors, while also adding new bureaucracy and regulations.

“Illinoisans are struggling with increasing energy costs, and our grid demands increased power every day. Lifting the nuclear moratorium is a good and necessary step for providing Illinois the power an increasingly electrified grid requires. However, this should’ve been decoupled from a bill that provides significant changes to Illinois’ energy policies without sufficient opportunities for public review. This bill adds layers of bureaucracy, new funding requirements, fees and energy mandates that will end up costing Illinois taxpayers, while benefiting special interest groups throughout the state. While expanding Illinois’ capacity to generate nuclear energy is cause to celebrate, this bill contains many unknowns and significant financial burdens. Taxpayers, media and lawmakers should have had more time to evaluate the implications for economic growth,” Joe Tabor, director of legal research at Illinois Policy said.

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