Accounting standards call for annual spending reports within 180 days of the year’s end. Illinois took 774 days to produce its 2023 report, setting a national record for tardiness.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2026 budget includes record spending, cuts to economic development and overreliance on short-term revenue tricks—including a cleverly hidden tax hike, leaving significant work for the state to reach financial stability.

Illinois state lawmakers’ spending plans came in $410 million higher than what Gov. J.B. Pritzker originally proposed. Taxpayers will be forced to pay $1.1 billion more so Illinois can spend record amounts in fiscal year 2025.

Illinois has the worst rainy-day fund in the nation and has only enough cash to last for 15 days. It’s the only state that wouldn’t last a month.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s record-setting $52.7 billion 2025 spending plan needs massive tax increases. Tax changes will hurt individuals, businesses and local governments.

The pandemic had an upside for Illinois state finances – infusing federal dollars as state revenues exceeded projections. Now federal aid is gone. Illinoisans’ ongoing struggles warrant caution, reform in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.

Illinois’ rainy-day fund is at an all-time high, but remains $6.6 billion less than recommended by state budget experts. Illinois state government can operate for fewer than 13 days on what it’s saved.

Illinois just saw a $1.76 billion drop in state income tax collections, proving what a new study just showed: state tax policies give it the nation’s eighth-most volatile revenues. That also makes Illinois very vulnerable when a recession hits.