The Illinois General Assembly is giving the green light to a 53-billion-dollar budget plan.

(AP Photo/Seth Perlman File)

Illinois House Democrats approved the largest spending plan in state history overnight.

The more than $53 billion plan increases taxes by $750 million and spends 32% more, or $12.8 billion, than when Gov. J.B. Pritzker took office in 2019. The measure also spends $400 million more than what Pritzker proposed in February.

Approved by the Senate late in the evening Sunday and by the House in the early morning hours Wednesday, the plan also pays $971 million for non-citizen migrant health care, direct services and welcoming centers.

State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth carried the plan for the House.

“This budget is balanced, responsible and fair,” Gordon-Booth said late Tuesday during a committee hearing.

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville, said Democrats are not spending wisely.

“I have concerns that there are gimmicks in this budget that put us on a path towards a giant collision in the future and I hope I don’t have to say, ‘I told you so’ when this happens,” he said.

Republicans warned that the state is overspending, even when billions of one-time federal COVID-19 dollars were provided to the state during the pandemic. Those dollars are now dried up.

Davidsmeyer said while increasing taxes on businesses, the plan also shifts nearly $1 billion from other state funds to General Revenue Funds.

“Certainly frustrating as a taxpayer, both as a business owner and as an individual taxpayer, I don’t believe that you are being good stewards of the state’s dollars,” he said.

Davidsmeyer noted the budget also gives Democratic legislators millions of tax dollars for special projects in their districts.

Gordon-Booth acknowledged the fiscal headwinds the state faces with decreased revenue growth, but defended the plan.

“We are steadfast in our leadership roles in terms of ensuring that we are managing the fiscal house that we have in front of us,” she said.

The measure passed the House in the early morning hours Wednesday and can now be sent to the governor for his approval.

Highlights from the Governor’s office below:

Some highlights of the FY25 budget include:

$500 million to build a world-leading quantum computing campus, attracting billions in potential private sector and federal government investment.
More than $500 million in increases for education funding across early childhood, K-12, and higher education.
$50 million for the state’s first ever child tax credit to help working families with children under 12 who receive earned income tax credits.
Pay increases for Direct Support Professionals (DSP) who work in group homes and Community Care Program (CCP) in-home providers who serve seniors.
Nearly $3 billion to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the highest-ever investment of its kind in Illinois.
Funding to increase birth equity and eliminate black maternal mortality disparities.
Increases in funding to safety net hospitals and nursing homes across the state.
$198 million into the Budget Stabilization “Rainy Day” Fund.
Elimination of the statewide grocery tax.
$290 million to Home Illinois to work towards ending homelessness in Illinois.
$14 million to fund creation of the new Department of Early Childhood.

In addition to the budget package, the General Assembly passed several landmark pieces of legislation in the final weeks of session that were initially proposed by Governor Pritzker in his February “State of the State” address, including:

The Healthcare Protection Act, a series of reforms meant to address network inadequacy and eliminate step therapy and prior authorization issues to make health insurance companies more navigable and affordable for patients and providers.
Nearly $1 billion in medical debt relief supported by a $10 million new state funding commitment.
Strengthened protections to Illinois SHIELD laws to protect patients travelling from out of state to obtain reproductive care.
Establishment of nation-leading standards around carbon capture and sequestration.

Illinois Radio Network and Governor’s Pritzker’s office