Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul talks with new ‘Republican’ state Sen. Darby Hills, of Barrington Hills, on the Senate floor on May 30, 2025. | Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki
By Peter Hancock | Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – In a year when many state agencies received little or no funding increase, state lawmakers this year approved an increase of $15.7 million, or 22.4%, for general operating expenses in Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.
That General Revenue Fund increase is significantly more than some other constitutional officers received for their operating expenses in the upcoming fiscal year. It’s also more than the $15 million that Raoul himself requested when he appeared before House and Senate appropriations committees this year – although reductions in revenue from other state funds left Raoul’s all-funds budget roughly flat from a year ago.
Raoul’s office did not respond to repeated requests to comment for this story about why lawmakers approved a larger general operating budget than he had requested, and why the budget reflected such significant cuts in two specific non-GRF funds.
During budget hearings in April, Raoul said he needed additional funding to hire attorneys and other staff to handle the increased workload that his office now manages. Some of that workload, he said, is the result of legislation that has given the attorney general’s office more responsibility.
But he also mentioned the increased workload that stems from more than a dozen lawsuits his office has joined challenging actions of the Trump administration as well as defending the state against legal actions the administration has filed against Illinois.
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