The Illinois House approved a state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, now sending the budget package to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.

The $53.1 billion budget is identical to the version passing in the Senate on Sunday, keying in on education initiatives, capital projects and funding dedicated to the migrant crisis. Overall, it is $400 million more than Pritzker’s February budget proposal.

When that proposal was made in the same chamber three months ago, the Democratic governor admitted that some tough decisions would be made amid a year with less spending wiggle room. That held true after months of deliberations among lawmakers, said Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth.

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"The Democrats’ fiscal 2025 budget is a blueprint for a brighter future for the state of Illinois," the Peoria Democrat said during floor debate, with seven Democrats voting against the appropriations language in a 65-45 vote. "But I also want to be very clear: no one, and I mean no one, is getting everything that they want."

Early morning drama

The real drama played out when it came time to vote for the revenue package, which includes details on more than $1.1 billion in tax increases. It took three votes and north of two hours in debate, wrapping up a little before 5 a.m., where Democrats holding a 78-40 super-majority had to wrangle for 60 votes.

What made that third reading possible was a suspension of a rule preventing a bill from being voted on more than twice. There was a fair deal of political gamesmanship by Republicans, switching their votes back and forth from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ to lull Democrats- wary of supporting tax increases in an election year- into thinking a ‘no’ vote was safe.

Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, took issue with the whole process which he felt overrode agreed upon rules by the House. For House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, the procedure showed how his chamber is never boring.

"I think it should be clear to everyone in the state what this supermajority is willing to do to ram a tax increase down the throats of the citizens of Illinois at 4:30 in the morning," said Windhorst.

Those revenue increases are comprised of several tax increases. Among them include bumped rates for the sports wagering and video gaming taxes with an extended cap on corporate net operating losses. The extension itself would allow the state to collect $526 million in new tax revenues.

Pritzker is expected to sign the budget in coming days and praised it as balanced with investments in working families and small businesses. Fellow Democrats said this year’s budget builds off the fiscal progress made during the Pritzker administration and rallied behind the $500 million allocated to develop quantum technology.

"From expectant mothers and their newborn babies to people with disabilities to veterans to seniors who need our care, we’re keeping our promises to all Illinoisans and the most vulnerable among us," he said in a statement.

What cuts?

Reticence among lawmakers to increase taxes prompted Pritzker’s office in weeks leading up to the budget votes to request state department heads to help identify up to $800 million in spending cuts. Instead, the final product included closer to $73 million in cuts per Senate Democrats’ lead budgeteer Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago.

How the budget accounts for that difference, Gordon-Booth said during a House Executive committee meeting Tuesday, is through a combination of "some decreases in spending in certain areas as well as some revenue increases." No specifics on what was cut was made available by Democrats.

House Republicans said the tax increases allowed to cover new initiatives included in the budget such as $14 million to create a new state department of early childhood and $10 million dedicated to eliminating the medical debt of an estimated 300,000 households statewide. The programs themselves are not the problem, said Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Hammond, but the Democrats’ "addiction to spending" without cuts is.

Even some Democrats like Rep. Frank Crespo expressed concerns about the spending, this budget including more than $2.5 billion in expenditures more than the budget enacted last June. The Hoffmans Estate Democrat voted for the budget, but during debate over the revenue proposal, he said hiring freezes and changes to weight loss drugs covered by state insurance should have been considered.

“There’s really only one place you can look at getting these revenues, and that’s taxpayers,” he said before voting against the bill. “And at this rate, ladies and gentlemen, we’re gonna run out of taxpayer dollars to spend.”

As seen in Senate debate just days prior, another sore spot for the GOP was $182 million funding for the migrant crisis and $440 million towards the state-funded healthcare program for noncitizen adults.

Combined with other state funds, the Medicaid-style program will receive $629 million in funding. Not included, however, is a $188 million request to educate migrant children.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.