How Bad is the Budget Picture?
Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) Photo: Chicago Tribune
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WGN-TV plastered a headline yesterday afternoon claiming budget negotiators are trying to fill a $500 million shortfall in the final two weeks before lawmakers are to pass a budget and leave Springfield.
But the story raised some eyebrows around the Statehouse. It single-sources the story from Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago), who is close to Speaker Chris Welch, but is not a House Democrat budgeteer and likely hasn’t been in many, or any, of the latest budget negotiating sessions.
Whether or not the $500 million figure is accurate, Democrats writing the budget are more open than previously to admit they’re having a difficult time finalizing a spending deal.
“It’s no secret we’re facing an unprecedented year, in large part due to unpredictability from the federal government,” said Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), the top Senate budgeteer. “Budgeteers are meeting regularly to discuss the challenge of what is in front of us and how we will move forward in terms of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.”
The Governor’s Office and Management and Budget released a new revenue estimate down around $500 million from their February report.
Deputy Governor Andy Manar, in a memo yesteday, echoed Sims in blaming Washington for uncertainty in the state budget.
“The downward revision of the state’s revenue estimate in the April report from GOMB is largely driven by the economic uncertainty and anxiety fueled by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress,” Manar wrote. “Their reckless economic policies have already triggered the first quarterly decline in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in three years and are driving up costs for working families. This growing national instability poses a serious risk to Illinois continued economic progress and outlook.”
Republicans, meanwhile, who remain on the outside looking in, are questioning whether Democrats are being honest with their revenue estimates.
“It’s like they’re doing this with hope and pixie dust,” said one top Republican Tuesday. “This is no way to budget.”
