Gov. J.B. Pritzker inherited a $2.8 billion budget deficit the moment he stepped into office. Next year, that deficit is projected to be $3.4 billion1. It’s the same story every budget season. But Illinois’ budget crises could be a thing of the past if the state would adopt pension reform, right-size its union contracts and...

On his first full day in office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he will grant costly automatic pay raises to Illinois’ state workers despite a current budget deficit of more than $1 billion.