SPRINGFIELD – With an eye toward a potential third term as governor and a possible White House bid, Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday used his budget and State of the State address to outline an optimistic no-tax-hike spending plan and offer an ambitious set of initiatives in fields including education and healthcare, while likening the actions of President Donald Trump and his followers to the rise of Nazism in 1930’s Germany.
“I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly,” he said, adding that he was “watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now.”
Pritzker began by outlining his budget proposal, saying difficult choices had to be made in light of the economic challenges facing the state.
“I’m proud to say this year’s budget proposal is balanced and responsible. It represents some hard sacrifices and moderated spending. We’re preserving the progress we’ve made over the last six years, streamlining certain departments to do more with less, and delivering for our residents without raising their taxes,” Pritzker told a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate.
“I am not going to base a budget on bloated revenue estimates. I have never done that. Therefore, our spending must reflect reality. We have to live within our means,” he said.
Toward that end, the governor proposed the elimination of a state-run healthcare initiative for noncitizens, a program popular with progressive lawmakers, but one where ballooning costs led to enrollment being sharply curbed. The move would save an estimated $330 million in state funding, the governor’s office said.
“I stand ready to work with members of the General Assembly to deliberate and negotiate the final budget. But let’s be clear, I will only sign a balanced budget. If you come to the table looking to spend more – I’m going to ask you where you want to cut. I have made difficult decisions — including to programs I have championed, which is hard for me, just as I know some of the difficult decisions you will have to make will be hard for you,” Pritzker said.
The $55.2 billion spending plan offered by Pritzker, which includes a mandated $350 million in crease in state school aid funding and $10.6 billion for pensions, represents a sharp about face from fears expressed last fall that the state would face a deficit of at least $3 billion for the budget year that begins July 1.
The administration cited increased tax collections due to personal income growth and a stable job market, with consumer spending rebounding in last year’s Christmas holiday season, as some of the reasons for the reversal.
Still, the administration warned that economically, “forward expectations are mired in uncertainty” and that federal policy decisions driven by Trump and Republicans who control Congress could impact states “which have no means of ameliorating negative impacts.”
“Reductions in federal spending and implementing tariffs could shrink national and state economies, limit economic growth and raise prices,” a Pritzker administration briefing warned.
Pritzker has been an frequent critic of the president, and his outspokenness has increased his national footprint and raised speculation about a possible 2028 presidential bid. In his speech, Pritzker, a Jew who led the construction of the state’s Holocaust museum, recounted the quick rise of Nazism in Germany in expressing his concerns over the actions of Trump and his followers.
“I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly,” he said, adding that he was “watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now.”
“After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities — once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends — after that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next?” he asked.
“All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history, then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it,” Pritzker said. “It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.”
He accused the new Trump administration of “indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers, and veterans’ services.”
“They say they’re doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and healthcare for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation, and cancer research,” Pritzker said to applause from Democratic lawmakers.
“With the new tariffs already put in place by President Trump and the ones that he has proposed, the cost of everyday goods like tomatoes and beef and beer is likely to rise again. It’s confounding that when that happens, it seems like large corporations just hike up prices to drive up profits, while everyday people get stuck with the bill. It’s not right, and we ought to call out the federal government and the companies on it,” Pritzker said. “This year, we are going to need to do even more to address high prices and counteract Trump’s tariffs that will raise taxes on working families.”
Pritzker’s moves to balance the budget included a proposed amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers, a pause in the final shift of state sales taxes on motor fuel purchases to the state’s road construction fund and an unspecified “realignment of tax treatment for table and electronic games at casinos.”
As a result, the proposed spending plan contains an estimated surplus of $218 million, with $154 million of it dedicated to the state’s “rainy day” fund.
The Pritzker administration now forecasts individual income taxes will grow nearly $1 billion or 3.5%, corporate income taxes will increase $353 million, or 7.2% and sales tax receipts will jump $171 million, or 1.6%.
Pritzker touted his efforts to achieve fiscal accountability during his tenure, heralding six previously balanced budgets with nine state credit-rating upgrades, boosting funding in the state’s “rainy day” fund to more than $2.2 billion, paying $700 million more in pension funding above certified levels and retiring the state’s overdue bill backlog.
But his move to eliminate the healthcare program for noncitizen immigrants under 65 is likely to face significant pushback in the Democratic-led General Assembly.
Lawmakers with significant immigrant populations pushed for the creation of the program in 2020 for people 65 and older who were in the country without legal permission, or who had green cards but hadn’t completed a five-year waiting period.
Expanded twice to include recipients aged 42 through 64, costs for eventually skyrocketed and the issue has roiled the General Assembly in recent years, with Pritzker taking steps in 2023 to contain costs by curtailing enrollment. Last year, the governor announced plans to cut as many as 6,000 health care recipients across the two programs.
Along with the budget plan, the second-term governor proposed a variety of initiatives, including a $500 million plan to make surplus state properties more attractive for private business development and investment.
Among the properties being considered are the former 160-acre Dwight Correctional Center, the former 100-acre Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford, the former 100-acre Jacksonville Developmental Center, the former Lincoln Developmental Center and a 70-acre section of unutilized land outside the Shapiro Developmental Center in Kankakee.
On the non-budgetary side, Pritzker proposed legislation aimed at reducing prescription drug costs by reigning in the role of pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, that are often owned by healthcare companies and act as middlemen in controlling drug prices for consumers. The use of PBMs has often been cited as a reason for the decline of independent small-business owned pharmacies.
Pritzker also proposed legislation requiring school districts to create policies that would ban student use of cell phones during classroom instruction with limited exceptions, create a one-stop shop for high school students’ direct admission to Illinois colleges through sharing academic information, and allow selected community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees in programs tailored to their areas.
Other initiatives proposed by Pritzker would make it easier for voters to petition to eliminate or merge their township governments, create state regulation of cryptocurrency firms and oversight of crypto ATMs.
Another initiative is aimed at increasing protections for women seeking abortion in the state, including legislation that would ensure the legal prescribing of abortion medications like mifepristone if the FDA revokes approval as long as other peer-reviewed organizations like the World Health Organization agree on their efficacy.
In touting the Illinois’ accomplishments, Pritzker took a shot at those who criticize the state.
“There is a whole industry of backseat bellyachers in this state and around the country who make a profession out of rhetorically tearing down Illinois and suggesting that if we would just enact one of their magic bean fixes we would never face another difficult budget year,” Pritzker said.
“But if there’s one thing I’ve learned as governor – there are no magic bean fixes. And each year there’s some difficulty that requires us to work hard to overcome it. This year the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plan to steal Illinois’ tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and services they need,” he said.
Pritzker questioned Republicans and those Democrats who sought to go along to appease Trump.
“My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one,” he said. “I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions — but in deference to my obligations.”