The law promised significant infrastructure improvements, but the state’s roads are no better than when they were enacted seven years ago.
The state collected billions of dollars in taxes for road improvements through the massive 2019 Rebuild Illinois law, but drivers aren’t seeing the benefits.
Illinois is taking in tax money faster than it is spending it on infrastructure improvements, and its roads are no better in shape than they were seven years ago, when the signature legislation of Gov. JB Pritzker’s first term took effect.
Although Road Fund revenues increased by an average of 14% per year under the bill, the fund’s expenses only increased by an average of 5% annually.
Furthermore, the majority of this additional spending occurred in the first two years of the program. Since 2022, road fund spending has only increased by an average of 1.3% per year, not even the rate of inflation.
In other words, since the passage of Rebuild Illinois, the state is raising more money for roads, but not spending more money on roads.
The Illinois Department of Transportation did not respond when asked why spending on state highways and bridges appears to have declined.
Meanwhile, a “lockbox” provision in the Illinois Constitution prevents highway fund monies from (theoretically) being diverted to non-transportation spending. This, coupled with the imbalance between income and expenses, has left the fund awash in cash. At the end of fiscal year 2025, it held $3.7 billion.
One danger is that having a huge amount of money in the fund will motivate lawmakers to find questionable ways to circumvent the coffers – for example, withholding revenue from gas sales primarily from the road fund.
Last year, the legislature used more than $1 billion from the Road Fund to save the regional transport authority. Although it is not technically a violation of the locker regulations since the RTA is concerned with transportation, the move was carried out Construction unions crazy and arguably went against the spirit of Rebuild Illinois: to repair roads and bridges.
In addition, in order to gain the support of these unions, the law provides for the possibility of doing so Largest increase in passenger toll in Illinois history.
Rebuilding Illinois was presented as a way to improve the state’s infrastructure, but according to federal data, 20% of Illinois’ highways were in “acceptable” condition in 2024 – the same as when the law was passed in 2019.
To finance improvements, Pritzker doubled the state’s gasoline tax to 38 cents per gallon and provided automatic annual increases tied to inflation. The law does not provide for an obligation to suspend these increases if revenues exceed expenses or if the balance of the road fund reaches a certain level.
Although the law ties increases to inflation, it does not even allow for reductions in the (admittedly unlikely) case of deflation.
Rebuilding Illinois unfairly burdens the middle class with constant tax increases and forces families to bear the costs of the economic downturn twice over: first, through the effects of inflation and second, through tax increases directly caused by that inflation. Now the state has shown that it cannot use this additional money effectively anyway.
Aside from eliminating taxes and fees in Rebuild Illinois, lawmakers could at least pass a sunset amendment that would force a vote every few years on whether to continue the endless tax hikes.
Instead, the Illinois Tollway is trying to exploit this flaw even further by also tying toll increases to inflation.
To request that the Illinois Tollway reject this toll road structure, use the form Here.
To contact your legislators about repealing or amending Rebuild Illinois, use our search tool Here.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/rebuild-illinois-takes-your-tax-money-to-improve-roads-but-doesnt-spend-it/
