Springfield, Illinois—Veto session concluded on November 21, and as legislators prepare for the 2025 legislative session, State Senator Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) is warning people to brace for new tax hikes and budget sweeps as majority party Democrats try to plug a $3.2 billion budget deficit projected for the next fiscal year.
State spending has grown by more than 30% under Governor Pritzker, leading to the approval of a record-high $53 billion budget for the current fiscal year. The budget includes $1 billion in tax hikes and over $1 billion in spending for healthcare and other services and programs for noncitizens.
“There were zero discussions during veto session about how state government will rein in spending and act responsibly in 2025-2026,” said DeWitte. “I fear the Governor and his allies in the General Assembly are going to impose additional new taxes and sweep more revenue away from current budget areas like the motor fuel fund and the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF).”
DeWitte continued, “The Governor has routinely swept funds away from LGDF, and these are funds our local governments use to balance their budgets and pay for critical services like police and fire protection. I believe his repeal of the grocery tax earlier this year was a shot across the bow at local government. I fear he is going to go after them again in 2025-2026 with additional budget sweeps of funds that rightly belong to local units of government. I will stand up for municipalities and oppose any attempt to further weaken their financial positions.”
In 2024, DeWitte sponsored legislation that would eliminate the grocery tax and backfill lost revenue by returning funds regularly swept from LGDF back into that fund for use by municipalities. The DeWitte bill was blocked, and the Pritzker administration instead eliminated the tax and put in place an ability for local units of government to raise taxes on their own to cover the shortfall.
“Unfortunately, we are now learning that the ‘process’ the Governor put in place will not work for many non-home rule municipalities,” said DeWitte. “Whether it was bad faith negotiations or a mere refusal to examine or understand the consequences of his actions, Governor Pritzker’s repeal of the grocery tax has handcuffed nearly 200 non-home rule municipalities from being able to recover the lost funds that resulted from Pritzker budget gimmicks this year.”
Additionally, DeWitte said he hears almost daily from constituents who are barely making ends meet and cannot afford any more taxes. He, along with his colleagues in the Senate Republican Caucus, are urging the creation of a balanced 2025-2026 budget that does not include any new taxes