Chicago – February 19, 2026
One day before Gov. JB Pritzker’s scheduled budget address, Illinois’ four top legislative leaders briefed on the plan Tuesday agreed it will have to hew to the line in a tight fiscal year, with one Democratic leader saying he doesn’t expect the governor to embrace calls by some progressive lawmakers to more aggressively tax Illinois’ highest earners.
“I’m expecting another responsible, balanced budget proposal from the governor. It’s, as I understand it, likely to be very much a maintenance budget. We’re living in uncertain times, and we don’t know tomorrow morning what tweet’s going to blow another hole in our budget,” Democratic Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park said, referring to President Donald Trump’s penchant for policymaking via social media.
The legislative leaders met in the governor’s Springfield office. In addition to Harmon, the other three who attended were Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie of Savanna and Senate GOP Leader John Curran of Downers Grove. They were mum on specifics and only received limited information about Pritzker’s budget proposal during the nearly hourlong Tuesday afternoon meeting.
