According to state government itself, Illinois’ most recent spending plan is yet another in an unfortunate string of unbalanced budgets. State lawmakers have not passed a truly balanced budget since at least 2001.

In the preliminary official statement to potential bond buyers dated Aug. 16, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, or GOMB, notes the fiscal year 2019 budget is out of balance by $1.2 billion. Furthermore, the report states, “The State provides no assurances as to how, when or in what form this structural deficit might be addressed.” The statement was released as part of the state’s plan to sell over $920 million in new general obligation bonds.

The Illinois Policy Institute projected the General Assembly’s spending plan was out of balance by as much as $1.5 billion shortly after the bill was made public.

On May 30, state senators cast their votes on the 1,245-page bill less than five hours after it was made public. The measure passed by a vote of 56-2. On May 31, the Illinois House of Representatives approved the fiscal year 2019 spending bill by a 97-18 margin. The spending plan received significant support from Democrats and Republicans in both chambers.

Because the General Assembly never adopted a revenue estimate – as required by the Illinois Constitution and state law – and because the budget is out of balance despite a constitutional balanced budget requirement, the measure should not really be considered a budget: It is simply a spending plan.

Lawmakers also took no action to address the two primary factors leading to the state’s near-junk credit rating: a massive backlog of unpaid bills, which stands at nearly $8 billion as of Aug. 20, and roughly $130 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.

To make the budget appear balanced on paper, lawmakers relied on a number of common but deceptive budget gimmicks, including:

• Ignoring a potential $412 million in automatic raises for government union workers resulting from a contract dispute between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the state’s largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

• Counting on $300 million in revenue from divesting the James R. Thompson Center – planned for the third year in a row – despite no concrete signs of progress in selling the building

• Sweeping and borrowing $800 million from other state funds, in violation of good budgeting practices

• Using accounting methods that mask the true size of deficits

• Counting on around $422 million in pension savings that are entirely speculative