Okay, good morning everyone. Great to see everyone bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today as we have closed out yet another productive session for the Illinois General Assembly, headlined by our eighth consecutive balanced budget. One that focuses on lowering costs for everyday Illinoisans and protecting the state's fiscal health despite the attacks on states by the Republican Congress and Donald Trump.
Seven and a half years ago, we inherited budget turmoil, 21 credit downgrades, a hollowed-out state government, a structural deficit of more than $3 billion per year, and steady erosion of our pension funded ratio. Responsible budgeting in Illinois is now the rule, not the exception. As a result, Illinois now finds itself in the strongest financial position in decades.
Ten consecutive credit rating upgrades. Our $8 billion overdue bill backlog has been paid. $12 billion of short-term debt has been eliminated. Our pension funded ratio is the highest it's been in 17 years. And our rainy day fund has grown from near zero to over $2.4 billion.
Discretionary spending in FY27 is roughly flat compared to FY26, excluding required increases in pension funding and EBF since 2019. Our budget has increased at less than the rate of inflation since I took office. For emphasis, I'll say that again: less than the rate of inflation. And that's far less than the rate of increase of the federal budget. Plus, we don't run deficits in Illinois.
Our improved fiscal situation and new economic priorities have allowed us to make investments that have set us up for the largest amount of economic growth ever in state history. Our GDP last year surpassed $1.2 trillion. And we are attracting new companies and jobs of the future in life sciences, in quantum computing, sensing and communications, in agriculture, biomanufacturing, in biofuels, in clean energy, and more. All of those industries are experiencing double-digit annual growth rates.
Our state's revitalization is thanks to the partnership that the executive branch has had with a majority in the General Assembly, making the right kinds of investments and within responsible budgets like the one that we just passed. I'd like to acknowledge a few folks in particular.
Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon. Senate budget team led by Senator LG Sims. The House budget team led by Leader Robin Gable, along with Representatives Delgado, Gazardi, and Buckner, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, and of course the incredible hard-working state employees across the General Assembly and in the governor's office.
I want to especially thank my budget team: Deputy Governor Andy Manar, our key budget superstar Amanda Elliot, and GOMB Director Alexis Sturm.
When I introduced my proposed budget back in February, I warned that there would be truly unprecedented challenges because Donald Trump and the Republican Congress are costing the state over $8 billion. $8 billion.
And Trump's incomprehensible across-the-board tariff policies have been taxing working families, while rising gas prices from his war of choice in Iran cost Illinois drivers $450 million per month. It's hurting families and businesses alike. And that puts a greater burden on our state budget.
Surely they must be diverting all of that money from the states for some reason, right? Well, apparently it was all intended to fund ICE and tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and a gold-laden White House ballroom.
Nevertheless, here in Illinois, we are actually focused on helping working people, delivering economic relief, fighting high prices, and creating economic and educational opportunity.
We passed a balanced budget that puts Illinois families first. Our state budget contains a slate of core investments to help make housing, education, healthcare, and other everyday necessities more affordable and accessible. To highlight just a few priorities that are in this budget, we secured $250 million for the Build Initiative's new housing programs to lower the cost of homes in Illinois.
That includes $100 million for local infrastructure support to expand housing development, $100 million for missing middle and affordable homes program, and $50 million for new home buyer and first-time home buyer assistance.
$350 million was added for evidence-based funding in K-12 education, delivering the highest ever funding levels for our public schools. The budget also increased funding for universities and community colleges while maintaining record MAP and AIM HIGH funding. And we started a new high school vocational training grant to expand our education-to-workforce programming.
We made all of those people-first investments while maintaining our positive fiscal trajectory and protecting working families from paying new taxes. That was no simple task. But once again, we are resolute about fiscal responsibility.
We consolidated agencies and we increased transparency and fiscal accountability to support safety net hospitals and nursing homes. We were also able to provide working families direct economic relief, lowering costs and countering inflationary pricing brought on by Washington's failed policies. Here are just a few examples.
We protected auto and homeowners from unfair and unjustified hikes in insurance premiums. We ended undisclosed junk fees on food, concert tickets, and hotel rooms. We provided a back-to-school tax holiday so working parents can save on school supplies. In August, we created the FRESH program to provide working families who lost SNAP benefits with direct relief so they could afford food. We paused the gas tax inflator as well.
These days, technological developments are happening at a quickened pace, and it was time for us to step up where the federal government has been unwilling to, to protect the public from the dangers of AI. We now have one of the most robust artificial intelligence safety frameworks in the entire nation, placing us at the vanguard of transparency and accountability for this new technology.
We also took action to protect our kids where Washington and big tech has refused to. Our nation-leading Children's Social Media Safety Act will give parents the tools to protect our kids online. My social media platform fee requires the social media giants to pay for the mental health and educational degradation that they've caused to our children. And we're giving children more classroom focus and a better education by banning kids' use of cell phones during the school day.
From start to finish, the work of the legislative session that we've just completed was informed by the priorities and values of Illinois families, like lowering costs, investing in and protecting our children, laying the foundation for long-term economic development and job creation, and improving our state's overall fiscal health. I look forward to taking your questions in a few minutes, but first let me introduce a passionate champion for working families and of course my partner in governance, our Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton. Juliana.
Hello everyone and thank you, Governor Pritzker, for always standing strong on behalf of the people of Illinois. It's truly an honor to serve by your side. I want to echo the governor's appreciation for everyone who stayed at the table and helped deliver this eighth consecutive balanced budget. President Don Harmon, Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, the budgeteers, and all of our partners in the General Assembly. It wasn't always easy, but you carried the weight of this work to ensure a brighter future for all Illinoisans.
To our respective teams and the staffers who have worked long hours, especially this last week, thank you for your perseverance. You are appreciated. And of course, to all of our state agency heads and state employees, thank you for your tireless dedication to the people we serve.
When I was sworn in as a state representative in 2017, Illinois was in the midst of a budget impasse that had lasted over two years. The devastation to working families was real. When Governor Pritzker and I came into office in 2019, Illinois was not only in desperate need of a guiding hand, we needed to regain the trust of our people who had been harmed by the impasse and the damage it caused.
We made a promise to working families that we would bring clarity and leadership without sacrificing respect for the people who call Illinois home. By staying laser-focused on being good stewards of taxpayer dollars for seven-plus years, we've built back that trust and delivered for Illinoisans in every corner of our state.
Now in 2026, once again, we have delivered. Even against the backdrop of uncertainty and a president who has made it clear that he's not concerned about the financial situations of hardworking families of Illinois. As families are struggling and everything is more expensive, we have doubled down on compassionate fiscal responsibility and providing relief: historic investments in education from birth to higher education, eliminating medical debt, lowering health care costs, reducing the burden of grocery costs, and expanding access to healthy food, and making child care more affordable.
And as chair of the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, I'm especially proud that my office's key legislative priority passed, the history-making Senate Bill 3325, which expands menopause education and improves perimenopause and menopause care for women, making Illinois the first state in the nation to do so. As you can see, we remain committed to Illinois being the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.
I'm so proud to be a part of an administration that chooses to stand on the front lines with our people as we write this next chapter in Illinois' story. And as I always say, our only way forward is together. It's now my honor to pass it over to one of our tremendous partners in progress, Speaker of the Illinois House, Emanuel Chris Welch. Speaker.
Good morning everyone. It is nice to be back after such a quiet, restful night, you know. Thank you, LG. We began this session with a simple focus: people who work hard shouldn't feel like every day is such a struggle. Opening a bill shouldn't feel so scary. No one should have to choose between their medication or putting food on a table.
These conversations that families have around their kitchen tables are at the heart of our agenda here in Illinois. And that's why we were able to deliver a fiscally and socially responsible budget that moves forward while Washington is choosing to retreat every single day.
That's why we're investing in expanded school lunch and our first-of-its-kind FRESH program to meet the needs of SNAP recipients who have been turned away by Washington. That's why we're investing in education at every level, from early childhood to elementary school to after-school to college to career training. That's why we're investing in affordability by freezing the gas tax and cutting taxes on back-to-school shopping.
And in these and other spaces, there is definitely more work to be done. We need to continue our work on AI regulation. We need to continue our work on affordability. We need to continue our conversations on the Bears stadium question. I know in the House we need time to review the bill that came over early this morning. We need to know where do the Bears stand. We need to take the time to get it right.
Last night, we passed a major cannabis and hemp reform package. One that many people said the House would never get done. The same was said about the 340B package we passed last night. The same was said about the Junk Fee Ban Act that is now on the governor's desk. The same has been said about an assault weapons ban. The same has been said about SEA. The same has been said about transit.
But we've gotten it done by using our processes and taking the time to listen and to get it right. We delivered finished products that were better than we could have ever imagined. And so I want to thank my partners, Governor Pritzker and President Harmon. They have truly been partners in this every single step of the way. Special thanks to my budgeteers.
I got to tell you, I told them every day I couldn't have done it without them because they truly did the work. They are winners. They know that I say winners do the work and they did the work. Leader Gable, Leader Gazardi, Leader Buckner, Leader Delgado. I want to thank you publicly in front of all these cameras.
And I also want to thank my all-star team, my staff, Matteline, John Jason, and the Budget and Policy Office. I want to thank Cat Bray and her legal team. I want to thank Nora Walsh and the legislative team. I want to thank John Maxon and Dolores Walton and Norzy.
And of course, directing all that traffic is my rockstar chief of staff, Clayton Harris III. Thank you, my friend. And with that, I want to bring up my partner in legislating, my friend from the west suburbs. Please welcome the Senate President, Don Harmon.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, thank you for a true partnership here. I also appreciate the thanks that went to our budgeteers, Senator LG Sims, and those not with us this morning, hopefully sound asleep: Senators Halpin, Belt, Aino, and Via Noea, as well as our crack staff. Incredibly grateful for the hard work.
This budget was built in a moment of extraordinary uncertainty. More than 100,000 people are losing food assistance because of decisions coming out of Washington. Hospitals serving some of the most vulnerable communities in Illinois are questioning how long they can keep their doors open. Programs focused on HIV education, youth addiction treatment, domestic violence services, and other essential services are facing devastating cuts. All while working families continue to struggle with rising costs and economic instability.
The state of Illinois cannot undo every reckless decision being made in Washington, but we can choose what kind of state we're going to be at this moment. For Illinois Senate Democrats, that meant strengthening safety net programs to help as many as we can. It meant protecting access to hospitals and healthcare in communities all across Illinois. And it meant continuing to invest in the future of our children, even when the federal government on a daily basis wreaks havoc on public education.
The single largest increase in this budget goes to public schools. More than 300 million new dollars go to classrooms across Illinois. We also created the state tax-free back-to-school shopping window to give working families a little breathing room when the next school year rolls around. And we accomplished all of this while passing another responsible, balanced budget that does not raise the state income or sales tax.
Would we like to do more? Of course, there's always more work to do, but leadership is about making responsible decisions in difficult moments. It's about providing stability and predictability for families, schools, hospitals, businesses, and community organizations trying to plan in the future of uncertain times. And that's what this budget does.
I want to thank again all the members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, the House Democratic Caucus, the Speaker, the Governor, and everyone involved for their partnership and shared commitment to moving Illinois forward responsibly and compassionately. And with that, I'll turn the microphone back to the governor.
Thank you, sir. Happy to take questions from members of the media. Rick Pearson.
I may be the only one in this room who was here when Stadium... years ago.
Yes. You mean when everything stopped at midnight? And... time is a flat circle. Yeah.
The difference between that and what I saw yesterday was realistic... including... governor...
Well, I think you weren't listening if you don't know where the governor was, because I will say my principles have been the same from the very beginning and until yesterday and remain today. We're about protecting the taxpayers of the state of Illinois. We want to keep businesses and grow businesses here, attract businesses to the state, make sure that the Chicago Bears are still an Illinois-based team. And we work very hard to make all of those things happen at the same time. But I want to remind you...
Where were you in pushing the bill and working to pass...
Oh gosh, I was in meetings throughout the weekend indeed on this, not to mention throughout the last six months. So, what I can tell you is that my principles focused on the taxpayers of Illinois and making sure we weren't doing something like paying for a stadium, a privately-owned stadium for a billionaire-owned team. That didn't make any sense to me. And I said from the very beginning, we're not going to do that.
That we would focus on only providing what was necessary in order to create infrastructure, as we have for other businesses in the state of Illinois, so they can do business in the state. And those were all things that were part of the package that I set up and allowed the legislature to debate. The House passed a version of that. The Senate passed a version of that. And the fact that there wasn't agreement by the two houses is a question I think for the legislature. But I will say I think the principles remained intact throughout.
But is there a belief that the Indiana leveraging is a ruse?
Oh no. I wouldn't say it's a ruse. I don't believe that. I don't know if anybody wants to add anything. Yeah.
I wonder if I could ask a question of the president and speaker. I'm just curious why you guys were not on the same stage and if you think it might have made a difference if in fact you had been working in your schedule, your session time during the same weeks. Like, what was the breakdown? Why weren't you sort of working in concert on legislation to keep the Bears in Illinois?
Tim, thanks for the question. You know, first of all, I tell people every day, you know, the name on that door or the title on that door upstairs says Speaker of the House, but it probably should be Listener of the House. And my job is first and foremost to listen to the caucus that elects me to serve in this historic role. And Senate President has a similar role. We have to listen to our caucuses. And that's extremely important.
Any processes that you see me employ is directed at listening and learning what the members who are closest to the people... The House of Representatives is the first article in the Constitution. We're the people that are closest to the people. They're out there knocking on doors and talking to people all the time. And so I have to listen to my caucus first and foremost and share that feedback through our work. And I think we did that.
I think the fact that we showed that we need to take a statewide economic development approach was reflective of the conversations we were having with our caucus, and I am certain what we saw last night was reflective of what the Senate President was hearing from his caucus.
We worked together through the entire session. We wouldn't have a responsible, balanced budget if we hadn't done that. The question I don't think is how this came together last night, but that we did anything at all.
There was an enormous undercurrent in our caucus to not do anything. People are worried about neighbors being thrown off of food stamps. People not being able to keep up with inflation because their wages aren't coming up. Losing their health care because the hospitals and healthcare providers that serve them are being undercut by Washington. There was no appetite at all to provide public dollars to a $10 billion sports franchise.
As much as we love the Bears, I'm really proud that our caucus came together. And I don't know, but for the leadership of Senator Bill Cunningham, we could have convinced the caucus to make an effort to do this. Senator Cunningham said it on the floor and I think it's true. All of us in our neighborhoods and communities heard basically the same thing: do whatever you need to do to keep the Bears here, but not one nickel.
I'm sorry. No, go ahead. Yeah, Olivia.
So, the capital's... did not last. Do you see that as potentially a political issue going into the rest of the year?
Absolutely. I'm going to be campaigning on it. So yes, it's a political issue. I believe that we need to do even more about housing in this state. I proposed bills that may not have passed this session, but remember a whole lot of things, and in fact I made a list for myself so I could remind you all, a whole lot of things that were important take years to get done.
An example of that is the junk fees bill which finally got done this year but it's two years old. We had a homeowners insurance rate reform that's two years old. The electronic medical records bill, the healthcare reportable conduct. These are all things that take years, some of them more than just two. But I can tell you that I believe that the people of Illinois want action on housing. They want to make sure that we make it easier for people to build more homes and make it easier for people to create housing on property they already own. And so I'm going to continue to fight for that.
Is that going to be a liability for you?
Oh, no. I mean, are you kidding me? The question is, do you want to elect somebody who's actually for building more housing or somebody who doesn't have any plan at all? Those are the choices people have.
Without concern about data centers across the state, how can the General Assembly leave here at the end of session without taking any action on regulations, not even a pause in the incentives? And I'd like to get the leaders to weigh in as well.
Yep. Again, that's an issue that I feel very strongly about. You know, I proposed that there be a pause on data center tax credits. I believe that data centers ought to be paying their fair share and that they ought to bring their own energy with them. And so those are things that, you know, we've been fighting for. Obviously didn't get through this legislature, but I'm not sure which one of the leaders wants to talk about how the legislature dealt with it.
I think that's a perfect example of what the governor talked about. These things take time. These are some complex issues that we're dealing with. In the House, we had hearing after hearing on data centers. Clearly something needs to be done, but you have to listen. We have to make sure everyone's being heard. We got to make sure our caucus is in a good place on these issues. And you know it when you hear it, and we just weren't there this session. These complex legislative issues take time. And I do think we're going to eventually get there. And when we get there, it's going to be done right.
Governor, can you talk about what do you want to see happen next with the Bears? Are you prepared to call a special session if things get worked out? And the Bears saying the NFL wants a decision by early spring or late spring. Is there urgency to get things back together?
Well, I know that the House has said that they're going to continue to work on this over the summer. I think the question of special session is a question really for the legislators and not for the governor here. They've got to come to an agreement about something or other and then either one can call a special legislative session. I can as well.
I'm sorry, during the session a lot of people around here were waiting to see an answer on that. I'm curious, Speaker, why wasn't a vote last night?
I hate to sound like a broken record, but some of these issues take time. You know, the votes weren't there to pass a bill for the Bears, but just being about the Bears, the votes weren't there. A vote just about Springfield wasn't there. Sometimes we have to figure out a way to get to 60, 30, and on a bill that one person will sign.
You know, I didn't ask the members their specific issues. I asked where they were, yes or no. In the final hours of the session, the votes weren't there. And we're going to continue to have those conversations to find out what the specific issues are. And we'll get there.
And you know, we're here. We're very much a part of Springfield and the economy and what goes on here and we want to see something happen. But what will happen will be what is right.
Speaker, were you frustrated the Bears bill came so late?
Listen, I respect the Senate President and his processes over there. You know, that's the legislative process. That's sausage making. It came over late as you said. We didn't have time to digest it. We didn't have time to find out what other folks thought of the bill. I need to have some feedback from our members before asking them to vote for it on the floor, particularly in the wee morning hours. And so I'm respectful of the processes in the Senate, and I'm sure he's respectful of the processes that we have in the House.
Is there a solution that you think your chamber could support that would incentivize them to stay as opposed to...
Well, we passed one over to the Senate in April. That's certainly one.
And so now we have to continue to listen. You know, I already have meetings on my schedule that are going to continue those conversations. I'm looking forward to hearing what folks have to say. I want to hear what the mayors have to say about the proposal that came over to the House, share that information with our caucus, work with our leaders that are actively involved in this process, like Leader Cam Buckner.
The work that he has put into this has been just amazing and I'm extremely appreciative of Leader Buckner and the work that he's doing on this. And we have to make sure we're considering all of the factors when we're doing that.
But Speaker and Governor, these negotiations have been going on for three years. So there's a transition obviously from the proposal to this sports facilities authority proposal. In the three years, could any of that ever come up?
