Gov. JB Pritzker signs $53.1 billion Illinois state budget plan with increased funding for schools and migrant care

Governor JB Pritzker signed Illinois' $53 billion spending plan for the 2025 fiscal year. This is the sixth balanced budget since he became governor in 2019. The budget was approved by state lawmakers last week. Some Democrats and Republicans disagreed on how the budget would be funded, including tax hikes of almost $750 million. The spending plan includes money to help Chicago care for migrants and more funding for schools statewide. The child tax credit will cost the state about $50 million. Removing the grocery tax won't affect the state budget because that money goes to local governments. Retail stores will now have a cap of $1,000 per month on the amount they can keep for expenses in holding back state sales taxes. This change will bring in about $101 million. There will also be more money from increased sports wagering taxes and video gambling. Critics say the budget is too big, but Pritzker disagrees. He says the budget only increased spending by 1.6% in a world where inflation is 3.2%. Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran criticized Pritzker for increasing state spending by more than 30% since taking office and expanding spending on care for migrants. The budget is $53.1 billion, which is 1.6% more than this year's spending. It is $12.8 billion, or 32% higher than the first budget in 2019. The budget eliminates the 1% sales tax on groceries and creates a child tax credit for households with children under 12. Higher education gets a 2% increase, and grants for college-bound students increase by $10 million. Pritzker wanted to increase the tax paid by casino sportsbooks, but it was set on a sliding scale from 20% to 40%. He defended the budget, saying Illinois does not have the highest state taxes and spends about 20th among the 50 states per person. He believes the budget addresses the challenges facing Illinois residents. Cities or counties with a population over 25,000 can now implement a sales tax of up to 1% without voter approval.