(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Gov. JB Pritzker delivered his annual State of the State address in Springfield, touching on subjects including a balanced budget, the Trump Administration and cell phone bans.
Pritzker told lawmakers in Springfield that he will only sign a balanced budget.
“I'm not going to base a budget on bloated revenue estimates. I have never done that and therefore our spending must reflect reality. We have to live within our means,” Pritzker said.
In his address, the governor also said he is pushing for a crackdown on cellphone use in schools.
Pritzker says taking cellphones out of students' hands is something that seemingly everyone agrees on and will make a difference.
“That's why this session, I'll move forward with legislation requiring all school districts in Illinois to adopt a cell phone policy that bans the use of phones during classroom instruction. More focus on learning will bring even greater success for kids across our state.”
The Governor's Office says several school districts in Illinois – including in Champaign, Springfield, and Peoria – have already adopted policies limiting cell phone use.
In the address, Pritzker also said "no new taxes," and said some things should not be cut in any government, things like new funding for schools, and improving services for families.
The governor is pointing a finger at Washington.
“I know it's in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers and veterans services. They say they're doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children.”
The governor has also had other strong words for President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to cut federal spending, saying Illinois is feeling the impact.
“There are no magic bean fixes, and each year there's some difficulty that requires us to work hard to overcome it. This year, the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump's and Elon Musk's plan to steal Illinois's tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and the services that they need.”
Following Pritzker's speech, state House Republican leader Tony McCombie from suburban Rockford dismissed the address as a political speech by someone with presidential ambitions.
“We obviously thought we were gonna have a little gaslighting, but certainly didn't think we were gonna see a flamethrower by any means,” McCombie said.
Illinois republicans have released a statement on Governor Pritzker's address... calling it "nothing more than grandstanding" and that "President Trump is leading from the front, slashing government waste and spending to reduce the tax burden on American Families."
Read the full statement below:
"What we heard today from Governor Pritzker was nothing more than grandstanding and hypocrisy from a politician who has already set his sights on his next pursuit of office. While President Trump is leading from the front, slashing government waste and spending to reduce the tax burden on American families, Governor Pritzker proposed yet another massive spending budget relying on pipe dream projections while lying about President Trump's record in an effort to establish himself on a national stage, leaving Illinois in his wake. We need Republican leadership in this state to cut the bloated spending, reduce the tax burden on our families rather than treat our state like a stepping stone to higher ambitions like Governor Pritzker has."
The governor also proposed a $55 billion state budget for 2026, which includes a potential surplus the governor chalks up to stronger-than-expected income tax collections.
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