Because Illinois state lawmakers waited until the last minute to pass a budget, no one noticed multiple errors that could have halted about half of the state’s spending until a month before the fiscal year ended. Haste makes waste of taxpayer dollars.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved doubling the state gas tax in 2019 and gave some counties and Chicago the power to hike local gas taxes. Lake County is the latest to consider doing so.