Illinois

Illinois passes $55B budget, with over $800 million in revenue changes

Published

7 months ago

June 1, 2025

Illinois passes B budget, with over 0 million in revenue changes

Illinois state lawmakers’ spending plan surpasses last year’s budget by $2 billion, requiring taxpayers to pay over $800 million in additional costs for yet another year of record spending.

With just over 24 hours to conduct a full review, the Illinois General Assembly approved a record-setting $55.2 billion budget for 2026, after a 75-41 House vote sent the 3,000-plus page plan to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. lt follows a familiar fiscal playbook: spend more, fix nothing, hand taxpayers the bill – and toss in a raise for those casting the votes.

To cover the rising costs of education, state pensions and health benefits for government workers, the budget uses short-sighted fixes and ignores structural problems. Once again, it’s taxpayers who will pay the price.

Just before its deadline, Illinois lawmakers passed a record $55.2 billion budget, featuring over $394 million in tax increases, $237 million in fund sweeps and $216 million in delaying funds.

Despite lawmaker claims of budget cuts, the 2026 budget increased by $2 billion compared to 2025. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has grown Illinois’ budget by $16 billion and enacted over 50 tax hikes since taking office in 2019.

Notably, the budget cuts the state’s Property Tax Relief Grant, resulting in an effective $43 million property tax hike. Lawmakers will also receive more than $6,000 in pay raises for the coming year, while public pensioners will receive a benefit spike valued at more than $13 billion. Meanwhile, the budget contributes $5 billion less in pension funding than is necessary to keep the system solvent for future retirees, according to the pension system’s actuaries.

On the revenue side the budget features more than $800 million in revenue gimmicks featuring tax hikes, fund sweeps and temporary measures that fail to truly balance the state’s budget. The process was so rushed that even bill sponsors seem unclear on the exact amount taxpayers will be asked to pay. Among the revenue adjustments are:

$195 million – $228 million from a new tax amnesty program.
$171 million from delaying motor fuels tax revenue transfers to the Road Fund.
$237 million in fund sweeps.
$72 million in corporate tax hikes.
$45 million from shorting the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund.
$36 million from a new sports wagering tax.
$15 million from removing hotel tax exemptions from short term rental platforms.
An additional tax on nicotine analogs.

The 2026 budget continues Illinois’ practice of irresponsible and speculative budgeting. Rather than focusing on policy solutions such as a spending cap, right-sizing employee health care costs and constitutional pension reform, lawmakers have opted for a status quo budget. Constantly relying on taxes and fund sweeps encourages irresponsible budgeting, which erodes voters’ trust in Springfield. These tactics reduce the state’s competitiveness, risk potential credit downgrades and can worsen Illinois’ challenges with high unemployment and sluggish growth.

Illinois’ 2026 budget continues the state’s habit of patching budget problems using short-sighted fixes with long-term consequences. Without structural solutions, such as adopting a spending cap and constitutional pension reform, Illinois has continued its cycle of reactive budgeting at taxpayers’ expense.

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Illinois

Over 81K deer harvested in Illinois firearm deer season

Published

4 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Over 81K deer harvested in Illinois firearm deer season

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KWQC) – Early numbers show more than 81,000 deer were harvested during Illinois’ firearm deer season this year.

Officials said preliminary totals show 91,225 deer were harvested during the seven-day season that ended on Dec. 7, according to a news release.

This is down from the 82,496 deer harvested during the firearm season last year, officials said.

Local firearm deer season totals:

Rock Island County: 728
Whiteside County: 699
Jo Davies County: 1,336
Knox County: 1,057
Henry County: 572
Mercer County: 873
Warren County: 516
Bureau County: 909

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Illinois

Bears again expand stadium search, including outside Illinois

Published

16 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Bears again expand stadium search, including outside Illinois

CHICAGO — Three days before hosting their biggest game at Soldier Field in years, the Chicago Bears are exploring moving outside the city for which they are named.

In an open letter to fans Wednesday evening, team president and CEO Kevin Warren said the Bears will explore other locations — including outside of Cook County, where the team owns a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights, Illinois — to build a domed stadium.

That includes moving the Bears out of Illinois altogether.

“In addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana,” Warren said. “This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights.

“Our fans deserve a world-class stadium. Our players and coaches deserve a venue that matches the championship standard they strive for every day. With that in mind, our organization must keep every credible pathway open to deliver that future.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back against a potential move of the team out of the state.

“Suggesting the Bears would move to Indiana is a startling slap in the face to all the beloved and loyal fans who have been rallying around the team during this strong season,”Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill said in a statement. “The Governor’s a Bears fan who has always wanted them to stay in Chicago. He has also said that ultimately they are a private business.”

The Bears purchased the Arlington Park property that formerly housed the Arlington International Racecourse for $197 million in 2023, shortly before Warren replaced Ted Phillips as team president and CEO. The Bears proposed building a 60,000-seat fixed-roof stadium within a $5 billion mixed-use development.

Not long after closing on the land in Arlington Heights, the team began exploring options for a new stadium site when it announced its plans to build at the Arlington Park site were “at risk” as negotiations over property taxes reached a $100 million impasse.

Shortly before the 2024 draft, the Bears shifted their focus to building their new stadium on the lakefront south of Soldier Field and announced they would invest more than $2 billion in private money into the construction and development of the stadium and surrounding areas.

Although the team has maintained that the construction of a new stadium will be privately funded, concerns over the burden placed on taxpayers to fund the infrastructure around the stadium led to an impasse. That led the Bears to explore Arlington Heights once again as an option, which Warren announced during league meetings in April. Ahead of the Bears’ home opener against theMinnesota Vikingson Sept. 8, Warren released a letter to fans, saying the team’s sights were set on building in Arlington Heights. He has said throughout the year that the goal was to break ground before the end of 2025.

However, the Bears have been in a battle with lawmakers over tax breaks and securing $855 million in public funding for costs related to building the new stadium.

“We have not asked for state taxpayer dollars to build the stadium at Arlington Park,” Warren said. “We asked only for a commitment to essential local infrastructure [roads, utilities, and site improvements], which is more than typical for projects of this size. Additionally, we sought reasonable property tax certainty to secure financing. We listened to state leadership and relied on their direction and guidance, yet our efforts have been met with no legislative partnership.”

The Bears’ current lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033. On Saturday night, the 10-4 Bears will host the Green Bay Packers in a high-stakes meeting that will heavily determine Chicago’s path to the postseason.br/]

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