On Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker delivered his budget address, his first major attempt to frame the strategy of his $1 billion tax relief proposal beyond a few tweets and surrogate interviews. Pritzker needs lawmakers to be on board with his plan in order for it to take effect, but also must sell it to voters as part of his November re-election strategy.

Beyond the tax relief, Pritzker made several proposals that could alleviate fears among undecided voters because they sound impressive on paper: an additional $500 million for pensions each of the next two fiscal years; an increased $498 million to the Pre-K-12 education budget and another $208 million for higher education; putting $898 million toward overdue health insurance bills; restoring (eventually nearly tripling) the rainy day fund; and meeting the final $230 million of obligation in the old prepaid college tuition program.

Pritzker also wants to spend another $250 million on the Department of Children and Family Services, in part to hire an extra 360 workers, and give an extra $500 million to nursing homes. The Illinois State Police would get an extra $18.6 million to process three cadet classes. A new forensic lab in Decatur is in line for $5.4 million. The ISP also would get $4.5 million for body cameras while city and county police agencies can access a $10 million grant pool.

Two other top-line numbers Democrats will surely tout: an estimated $1.7 billion surplus by the end of the current fiscal year and an overall spending cut of $1.6 billion in fiscal 2023.

The plan allows Pritzker to campaign on investing in the state’s future. GOP gubernatorial hopefuls would do well to pitch their own budgets so voters can understand alternative ideas and why they’d differ from our last Republican governor, whose budget battles with legislative Democrats severely damaged Illinois.

It’s more likely they’ll trumpet concerns of local officials seeking details regarding how Pritzker’s plan impacts their budgets, while also calling for even more structural reforms and assurances for long-term strategy once one-time federal payouts expire.

One giant issue remains unresolved: Illinois owes more than $4.5 billion to the federal unemployment insurance trust fund, faces a $32 million interest hit on Sept. 30 and has only $3.5 billion left from COVID-19 relief payments. Without a solution, businesses will pay more and beneficiaries will get less. Pritzker can’t afford to let this become a campaign issue for whomever emerges from the Republican primary, in case he needs another reason to find a solution before late June.

Pritzker must get lawmakers on board. And although he seemingly crafted a strong position, voters analyze governors on many issues.

Still, we should expect a lot of budget messaging going forward.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.