Pritzker Administration Orders $500 Million in Cuts
Gov. JB Pritzker gives his budget address in 2025. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
The Pritzker administration is holding back around $500 million in spending in the current fiscal year after asking agency heads to hold back 4% of their total appropriations last fall.
In a letter to Pritzker’s cabinet members Thursday, Alexis Sturm, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), said the budget outlook has not changed since last fall, when the initial hold backs were requested.
Sturm also indicated there may be further cuts if revenue projections, or cuts from the federal government, add pressure to the state budget.
“While not all State Agencies are directed to reserve specific amounts from their Fiscal Year 2026 General Funds appropriations, GOMB strongly encourages continued responsible fiscal management by each State Agency as we navigate continued economic uncertainty and additional spending pressures,” Sturm wrote in her letter Thursday.
More than $360 million of the $480 million in cuts come from the Department of Human Services and other Health care and human services agencies. That includes a proposal to forego a $200 million deposit from the General Revenue Fund (GRF) to Medicaid, which state leaders believe won’t be required to meet those program obligations.
The Governor’s office said no pension or K-12 education cuts are being made. Agencies will also be required to leave numerous jobs unfilled before the end of the state’s fiscal year in June.
These current year budget challenges don’t impact the creation of a new state budget for FY2027, which begins July 1. That budget has a current estimated shortfall in excess of $2 billion.
