SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Lawmakers failed to pass a state budget on Friday, missing a planned May 19th deadline and extending the General Assembly’s spring session at least another week.

Unfunded pension debts continue to present a problem in the budget, according to the Illinois Policy Institute, who estimate the state to underfund pensions by $4.4 billion in 2024.

Illinois officials planned to tackle the pension crises at the start of budget planning in January, reported the Center Square. The so-called “pension crisis” has caused the state to raise taxes in an effort to reconcile the debt, as well as cutting funding for other programs.

“We are on a path to a place where the state will once again have to cut funding for education, essential services, public transportation, we will stop investing in our roads, and our bridges will crumble,” said State Sen. Robert Martwick, [D-Chicago] in January, according to the Center Square.

A budget for 2024 fiscal year, set to begin July 1st, remains unproposed.

Lawmakers have until May 31st to pass a budget with a simple majority, with a supermajority (three-fifths) being required after.

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