Illinois lawmakers pass $55 billion state budget, but fail to approve mass transit funding before end of spring session
Just minutes before a crucial midnight deadline Saturday night, Illinois state lawmakers approved a $55.2 billion state budget plan for the next fiscal year. But while the Illinois Senate advanced a measure to overhaul and provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the Chicago area's mass transit system, the Illinois House didn't take it up before adjourning its spring session.
The state budget plan unveiled Friday night by Democratic leadership would include new taxes on gambling as well as tobacco and vape products.
Another source of new revenue in the budget proposal is a delinquent tax payment incentive program. The program is designed to help the state recover overdue tax payments. The program was proposed by Gov. JB Pritzker and is estimated to generate about $198 million in revenue.
A health care program that provides benefits to undocumented immigrants in Illinois between the ages of 42 and 64 also appears to be eliminated. Pritzker proposed eliminating the program to save the state $330 million.
The proposed budget also provides $307 million in additional funding for K-12 schools, but does not include $43 million in property tax relief funds called for under the state's evidence-based school funding model.
The budget proposal did not include any new sales, income, or service taxes.
The House passed the $55 billion spending plan shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, moving the measure over to the Senate. Lawmakers still must pass the revenue package to fund the spending plan, and also still must pass the "budget implementation" bill, which legally authorizes various programs and services within the budget.
As Democrats rushed to pass the final 2026 budget deal the day after it was unveiled, Illinois Senate Republicans expressed their frustrations with the Democratic-led budget process.
"In less than nine hours, the Democrats are going to file over $1 billion in tax increases. The public are not going to see it until it is filed. They are going to pass it through the House and pass it through the Senate," Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran said.
Gov. JB Pritzker applauded the passage of the bill during a press conference Sunday morning.
"The budget was focused from start to finish on the people of Illinois,' Pritzker said," I'm very proud to say we delivered for them in this budget."
Meantime, Chicagoans also have been keeping an eye on additional state funding for the area's mass transit systems.
Transit officials have said the Regional Transportation Authority system is facing a $771 million budget deficit in 2026, and if state lawmakers don't come up with that funding by this summer, the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace must start laying out plans for service cuts of up to 40% for next year.
Democratic lawmakers' current funding plan for mass transit would impose a $1.50 tax on deliveries like Amazon, Grubhub, and Uber Eats, a 10% tax on rideshare trips, and add a new tax to charge electric vehicles.
With the money going to help mostly mass transit in Chicago, DePaul University professor and transportation expert JoeSchwieterman said suburban taxpayers might not use what they are paying for.
"Revenue sources, taxes aren't easy to swallow for a lot of suburban governments; you know, rideshare taxes, tollway fees. And the latest news suggests this is going to be a very treacherous effort," he said.
The mass transit funding legislation also would overhaul the structure and governance of the Chicago area's mass transit systems, replacing the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the budgets for CTA, Metra and Pace, with a new organization called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority.
While the Chicago area's mass transit systems are funded through the end of the year, and there will likely be a fall veto session that could provide another shot at an 11th-hour rescue, transportation officials said without funding guarantees for 2026 in place by this summer, they'll have to start laying out the specific cuts next week to prepare for any potential service reductions next year.
"We need transit reform, we need to make sure we're addressing the needs of commuters, not just in the city of Chicago, in Cook County … but all across the state," Pritzker said.
He added, "There's significant work that'll need to be done over the summer and into the fall to make sure it gets across the line."
The CTA has said without the minimum funding it is seeking from the state, it would be forced to eliminate some or all service on at least four of its eight rail lines, close or dramatically reduce service at more than 50 rail stations, and eliminate 74 of 127 bus routes starting next year. The CTA has not yet said which specific 'L' and bus lines and 'L' stops would be affected.
Meanwhile, Metra has said it would have to eliminate all early morning and late evening trains, reduce weekday train service to one train per hour on each route, and cut weekend train service to one train every two hours on each route. Pace would be forced to eliminate all weekend service and all weekday service after 8 p.m.
"I think right now, there's wide understanding that we can't have these draconian 40% cuts. I mean, it just would be very painful, disruptive for the city. The economy would really suffer at the same time," Schwieterman said. "We have to forestall that, because the pain that's going to cause coming into summer and all those things is really going to hit our region hard."
Schwieterman said without a good transit system, traffic on the highways is going to grow.
"We already have a congestion problem, so I think even drivers recognize that we have to keep these trains running for quality of life," Schwieterman said. "I think, though, where it gets tricky is you get to areas where that transit system is less visible to people on a day-to-day basis, and that fact isn't as evident to them."
While lawmakers could come back in the summer or fall to address funding for mass transit, it will now require a 3/5ths majority to pass any deal that can take effect before June 1, 2026, rather than a simple majority.
Ben Szalinski and Jerry Nowicki of Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.
The video above is from an earlier report.
