Pritzker’s record budget proposal likely to grow before it’s enacted.

Almost all of Illinois’ final budgets under Gov. J.B. Pritzker have been larger than first proposed.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s tenure as governor suggests that his proposed record-high $56 billion budget for fiscal 2027 is likely to grow before it’s enacted.

Since 2019, final budgets have averaged $939 million higher than Pritzker’s proposals, driven by tax hikes added to the initial proposal and more generous revenue assumptions.

Enacted budgets under Pritzker

Rather than a spending limit, the governor’s initial proposals often have acted more as a starting point.

In the seven budgets enacted under Pritzker, final spending has exceeded his original proposal in all but one year. From the February proposal to the May budget deadline, lawmakers have frequently added spending or tax changes.

The enacted budget for fiscal 2026 included several revenue measures not in Pritzker’s initial proposal, including a higher 9-8-8 telephone surcharge, new taxes on nicotine and additional business tax changes.

Enacted budgets also have relied on higher revenue projections than initial forecasts. Pritzker’s fiscal 2024 budget assumed roughly $1.05 billion more in income tax revenue than his proposal just four months earlier. His fiscal 2027 budget assumes $1.3 billion more in income and sales tax revenue than projected only months ago by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

Quinn, Rauner proposals operated as a ceiling

Pritzker’s budgets show a clear difference from those of the state’s previous two governors. Their proposals often operated as the spending ceiling, not the floor.

Under former Gov. Pat Quinn, enacted budgets typically came in at or below his recommended spending levels. The exception was 2011, when lawmakers approved a temporary income tax hike to address post-recession deficits and rising pension costs,

The first two years under Gov. Bruce Rauner were defined by a budget impasse, leaving the state without an enacted budget in fiscal 2016 and 2017.

The budget that passed and was enacted for fiscal 2018 came in much lower than Rauner’s proposal. Since then, final budgets have seen seven years straight of surpassing the governor’s recommendations.

Final budgets under Pritzker have averaged nearly $940 million higher than his initial proposals, compared with an average of $1.02 billion lower under Quinn and $185 million lower under Rauner.

Illinois has among the highest taxes in the nation and the fifth-slowest-growing economy since 2019. The proposed 2027 plan adds nearly $600 million in new taxes affecting both residents and businesses.

The state is in desperate need of reforms — in spending discipline, pensions and the budgeting process — to prevent recurring deficits and additional tax burdens on Illinois families.

But history sets a precedent of even more taxes and other volatile revenue streams. Taxpayers should keep this in mind as lawmakers negotiate the budget for fiscal 2027.