The spring 2025 legislative session adjourned in the overnight hours of May 31–June 1, and as has become commonplace in JB Pritzker’s Illinois, the budget for the next fiscal year was rammed through at the eleventh hour. Majority party Democrats forced the budget through by circumventing established procedures, some of which are enshrined in the Illinois Constitution. This was no accident. It was done by design, and it ensured there was virtually no time to read, digest, or debate the budget’s 3,363 pages before being forced to vote on it.
In other words, it’s just another year in Democrat-controlled Illinois.
Not a single Republican voted in favor of the Fiscal Year 2026 spending plan, which goes into effect on July 1, 2025. At $55.2 billion, it is the largest budget in state history. And now, more than two weeks later, we’re still uncovering the depths of its reckless spending and egregious misdirection of funds.
Fed up with Democrats’ blatant disregard for the Illinois Constitution and their continued assault on transparency, I filed a legal challenge on June 5 against the unconstitutional, unethical, and backroom process used to jam through this bloated budget.
My lawsuit centers on a critical safeguard in the Illinois Constitution: the requirement that every bill be read on three separate days in each chamber. This rule exists to ensure thoughtful deliberation, prevent abuse, and protect the public. Yet year after year, Springfield insiders openly violate it by taking empty bills and stuffing them with last-minute budget language. This year, Democrats pasted all 3,363 pages of the budget into an existing empty “shell” bill. The move violated not only the three-readings rule but also completely bypassed standard committee hearing procedures.
We were handed the budget and asked to vote less than 48 hours after it was made public. That’s not just a breach of protocol; it’s a betrayal of the public trust. I believe the courts will agree.
So, what’s actually in this budget? Nearly $1 billion in new tax hikes and one-time gimmicks. This is on top of the $1 billion in tax increases Democrats forced through just one year ago. It also includes fat pay raises for legislators and hundreds of millions in pork projects earmarked exclusively for Democrat-held districts. There is ongoing taxpayer funding for free healthcare and other services for illegal immigrants. And there’s also this gem: The Speaker of the House snuck a $40 million line item into the budget to fund a new sportsplex in his home district. Is it any wonder they didn’t want Republicans or the public to see the budget ahead of time?
And what’s not in this budget? There is absolutely no property tax relief for families crushed under the highest property tax burdens in the nation. In fact, a small, yet critical tax relief program for residents in high-tax areas was eliminated altogether. There’s also no plan to help working families manage the skyrocketing energy bills expected this summer.
Simply put, this is the most irresponsible, politically motivated, and constitutionally dubious budget I’ve seen in my time serving in both the Illinois House and Senate.
Since Governor Pritzker took office in 2019, Illinois’ state spending has exploded by nearly $15 billion, an increase of almost 40%. For context, it took every governor before him 200 years to grow the state’s budget to $30 billion. Governor Pritzker has nearly doubled that in just six years.
The people of Illinois deserve better than this. They deserve a government that plays by the rules, not one that rewrites the rules in the dead of night.
My lawsuit is not just about one corrupt budget. It is about whether our state’s Constitution, and the public trust it represents, means anything at all.
I will continue to fight for a government that works for the people of Illinois and not against them, and invite any lawmaker who feels the same way to join me.
