GOP senator wants budget transparency; Dems describe open process

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – As Illinois state senators return to Springfield, Democrats and Republicans disagree over the level of transparency in the state’s budget process.

The state Senate’s first meeting of 2026 is scheduled Tuesday afternoon at the Illinois Capitol.

A reporter asked Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, about lawmakers routinely passing the state budget in the middle of the night with line items stuffed into a shell bill.

“I fundamentally disagree with your characterization. The budget is a process that begins in January or February and culminates in May,” Harmon said.

The Oak Park Democrat said the actual passage of every bill takes about 60 seconds.

“But a budget is a bill that is months in the making and subject to more public scrutiny than most anything else that we do,” Harmon said.

Last May, Harmon and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, sponsored empty budget legislation with two days left in the General Assembly’s spring session.

The Senate president asked lawmakers to support Senate Bill 2510.

“This is a vehicle bill. There is no content,” Harmon said at the time.

The $55.2 billion Illinois state spending plan for fiscal year 2026 was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last June. The budget included higher taxes on phones, tobacco and vaping products, sports betting and short term hotel rentals.

State Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, said legislators and the public had little time to review nearly $1 billion in new spending before the budget passed around 3 a.m.

“So rushing budgets and new taxes or fees put real pressure on families deciding whether they can choose between groceries or rent or prescriptions or child care,” Hills told TCS.

The Barrington Hills Republican said the record-high state budget raised costs for families and small businesses.

“These types of decisions need to be transparent,” Hills said.

Last June, several Republican state legislators filed a lawsuit in Sangamon County Circuit Court laying out how the final language of the 3,300 page budget bill was filed with just 30 hours before the legislature was set to adjourn.

The lawsuit against Harmon and Welch was brought by state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, state Reps. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, Jed Davis, R-Yorkville, David Friess, R-Red Bud, and Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville.

When asked about the state budget passing during the middle of the night, with line items added to a shell bill, state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said lawmakers spend dozens or even hundreds of hours in budget hearings.

“Anyone is welcome to come and testify. The committee chairs will call anyone to the witness table who fills out a witness slip, so I think we do have an open process,” Cunningham told The Center Square.

Cunningham said the biggest challenge for states will be reduced federal funding.

“We’re probably looking any anywhere between $1 billion to $2 billion in cuts from the federal government. That’s going to create a real problem for us and for every state in the country,” Cunningham said.

Hills emphasized her support for Senate Bill 1699, which requires public accounting of state spending on noncitizen programs.

“This bill that I’m cosponsoring gives taxpayers transparency so they can see how their dollars are being spent and to ensure that government is being held accountable,” Hills explained.

SB 1699, the Noncitizen Population Spending Transparency Act, provides that the Illinois Department of Human Services collaborate with relevant state agencies to prepare an annual report identifying all state spending on services and resources for noncitizen and asylum-seeking populations.

Greg Bishop contributed to this story.

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