State lawmakers built Illinois’ record $55.2 billion budget for 2026 on gimmicks, one-time fixes and piecemeal tax hikes. They left pension debt, transit cliffs and real reform for another day.

With the Illinois state legislative session ended, bills will start crossing the governor’s desk, some containing tax hikes, unaffordable spending and needless regulation. Here’s how Gov. J.B. Pritzker can stop these bad policies from becoming law.

State leaders rely on budget gimmicks and short-term fixes and they assume speculative proposals will become law and operate exactly as planned just to balance the books, if only on paper. Transparent, laws-on-the-books-based modeling is the only path to long-term stability.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker increased Illinois’ state spending more during his first six state budgets than any other state leader in terms of raw dollars since Gov. George Ryan, who took office more than 25 years ago.

Illinois leaders keep using tax hikes as a budget quick-fix, but the state’s fiscal troubles – and the taxpayer burden – persist. Here are the 70 tax and fee hikes state leaders have imposed during the past 15 years.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget proposal slashes general funds for economic development while relying on federal dollars to mask the cuts. This move raises doubts about the governor’s fiscal priorities.

Fears have grown that more efficient cars mean less money for Illinois to fund roads. But the state already collects higher revenues than ever while burdening drivers with high taxes and fees.

The latest forecast from the Illinois General Assembly estimates Illinois will have $737 million to $1.2 billion less in revenue than Gov. J.B. Pritzker hopes to spend.