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Where it goes
Governor's Office of Management and Budget, General Funds Financial Walk Down, Enacted FY2027 (June 15, 2026). Medicaid here is the state's own share; the federal match comes on top. Source
The two biggest lines, opened up below from the state's line-item file. Preschool and child care moved this year into a new Department of Early Childhood (the $2.1 billion early childhood line), so comparing this year's K-12 or human services line to last year's can look like a cut when the money moved. Evidence-Based Funding, the school formula, went up $350 million, the minimum the law calls for (105 ILCS 5/18-8.15).
K-12 education, $10.8 billion (tap to open)
- Evidence-Based Funding (EBF)$9.3B
Mandated categoricals (MCATs)$1.2B
- Special education: student transportation (105 ILCS 5/14-13.01(b))$487M
- Regular/vocational transportation (105 ILCS 5/29-5)$352M
- Special education: public & private facility tuition (105 ILCS 5/14-7.02)$223M
- Special education: orphanage tuition (105 ILCS 5/14-7.03)$133M
- Free breakfast/lunch reimbursement$26M
- Orphanage tuition: regular education (105 ILCS 5/18-3)$16M
- Career & technical education$59M
- All other ISBE General Funds lines$224M
GOMB, FY26 Final and FY27 Enacted Appropriations by Line Item, General Funds. Source
Human services, $11.3 billion (tap to open)
Dept. of Human Services (DHS)$7.0B
- Developmental disabilities (community grants + state-operated centers)$2.8B
- Home Services Program (in-home care for people with disabilities)$1.2B
- DHS Operations (agency-wide staff and operating costs)$1.0B
- Mental health (state hospitals, community grants, Williams/Colbert consent decrees)$750M
- Substance use treatment and prevention$148M
- Family & Community Services (Home Illinois, domestic violence, youth, violence prevention)$577M
- Direct support to individuals (TANF cash, AABD, immigrant services)$357M
- Rehabilitation Services Bureau$28M
- Other DHS (Inspector General, sexually violent persons program, member initiatives, admin)$57M
Dept. on Aging$2.0B
- Community Care Program services$1.7B
- CCP case management$97M
- All other Aging (community supportive services, Adult Protective Services/client rights, admin)$151M
- Dept. of Children & Family Services (DCFS)$1.7B
- Dept. of Public Health (IDPH)$300M
- Dept. of Juvenile Justice$176M
- Dept. of Veterans' Affairs$124M
- Dept. of Human Rights$23M
- Dept. of Employment Security (IDES)$21M
- Guardianship & Advocacy Commission$15M
- Deaf & Hard of Hearing Commission$0.7M
- Council on Developmental Disabilities$0.2M
GOMB line-item file, General Funds. The agencies add up to $11,317 million there, against $11,319 million in the walk down: a $1.6 million difference between two state documents published two months apart. Source
Where it comes from
GOMB walk down, FY2027 enacted. Source
How it grew
| Budget year | General Funds | Signed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | $38.5 billion | June 2018 | Civic Federation |
| FY2020 | $40.1 billion | June 2019 | Herald & Review |
| FY2023 | $46.5 billion | April 2022 | WIFR |
| FY2024 | $50.4 billion | June 7, 2023 | Capitol News Illinois |
| FY2025 | $53.1 billion | June 5, 2024 | Capitol News Illinois |
| FY2026 | $55.1 billion | June 16, 2025 | Capitol News Illinois |
| FY2027 | $55.9 billion | June 16, 2026 | GOMB |
Growth from FY2019 to FY2027 is about $17.4 billion, or 45%, in dollars of each year. Inflation accounts for part of it; we have not calculated an inflation-adjusted figure, so we don't claim one.
What the numbers don't say out loud
Fixed costs are most of it.
Reading the state's own October 2025 report, the Civic Federation found fixed costs, primarily pensions, Medicaid and debt service, “now consume approximately 40% of General Funds expenditures.” Source: Civic Federation, Oct 28, 2025.
Balanced by $6 million.
The enacted budget plans a $6 million surplus on $55.9 billion of spending, well inside the normal error of a revenue forecast. Source: GOMB walk down.
The forecasts disagree.
The legislature's forecasting commission projected an operating deficit of about $650 million in FY2027 and $227 million in FY2028. The governor's budget office projected $3.8 billion for FY2028 in October 2025, before this budget passed. Source: CGFA, March 2026; Civic Federation.
The revenue may not arrive.
CGFA's May 2026 revenue estimate came in $548 million below the figure the budget uses. Source: CGFA, May 2026.
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