(The Center Square) – The latest five-year projections for the state of Illinois’ finances shows a $10 billion increase in state spending with a more than $5 billion budget deficit.
For the current fiscal year, Illinois is set to spend more than $53 billion. Friday, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget released a five-year projection that has the state spending $63 billion by 2030. With that, the office projects a $5 billion deficit.
When asked about Chicago’s dire finances, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave some of his philosophy when budgeting for the state with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Going into FY21, it seemed clear that we needed to make cuts at that point because revenues were falling off a cliff and we didn’t have what ended up being the American Rescue Plan Act,” Pritzker said.
Illinois ended up getting $33 billion in federal tax funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PandemicOverisght.gov.
Pritzker said Chicago used a high percentage of COVID funds for ongoing programs.
“We tried not to do that at the state level,” Pritzker said. “We also have tight budgets and will continue to.”
GOMB’s projections have the state spending $56.4 billion in fiscal 2026 with a $3 billion deficit. For fiscal 2027, the state projects to spend $58.1 billion with a $4.1 billion deficit. In fiscal 2028, GOMB projects state spending at $59.9 billion with an estimated $4.9 billion deficit. Fiscal 2029’s spending is projected at $61.6 billion with a $5.2 billion deficit. For fiscal 2030, the state projects to spend $63 billion with a $5 billion deficit.
Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said it’s no wonder the state projects $22.2 billions in deficits over five years.
“We were having these crisis in 2019. We’re back to them a few years later because all the COVID windfall revenues are gone,” he told The Center Square.
The management and budget office’s report shows projected increases in spending on education, healthcare, human services, public safety and government services.
Dabrowski warned policy makers will threaten severe cuts or increase taxes.
“We’ve seen it through property taxes, we’ve seen it through all kinds of taxes and fees, and you can see the outmigration as a result of that, at least contributes to that,” he said.
Some of the recommendations the office of management and budget gave include investing in education, economic development and the state’s rainy day fund, and reducing debt and interest costs and implementing “spending controls.”
Dabrowski said it’s “more of the same.”
“Where the budget spending keeps going up and up and up and taxpayers are forced to pay more and more and more,” he said. “The real story is that we keep hurting people with these tax hikes and with these service cuts.”
