Illinois lawmakers to miss deadline as budget talks drag on

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers will miss a self-imposed Friday deadline for approving a state budget amid dissension among Democrats, who control the governor’s office and both legislative chambers, over how to balance the ballooning cost of a health care program for immigrants with other party priorities.

Negotiations over a roughly $50 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 present the first major test of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s second term after he won reelection last November by campaigning as a progressive who brought stability to the state’s chronically shaky finances.

As things stood late Thursday, it would not be procedurally possible for both chambers to approve a budget by the end of the day Friday, when the spring session was scheduled to adjourn. It wasn’t clear if legislators would work into the weekend or return to Springfield next week.

Tension was injected into what had been relatively drama-free budget talks when the Pritzker…