Bulletins

State Employee Update: February 2025

Council 31 Staff
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Threat of federal cuts to state budget looms large

The Trump administration created widespread confusion and chaos last week, launching an all-out effort to vastly reduce federal funding to state and local governments.

The new administration issued a memo aimed at cutting off federal funds to state government (as well as local governments, nonprofits, construction contractors, and more)—money that helps communities, including billions of dollars that fund AFSCME members’ jobs and the services we provide here in Illinois.

Fortunately, the federal courts acted quickly to halt these illegal cuts. The “stays” the courts issued are only temporary, though, so the threat remains very real.

Among the jobs, funds, and programs targeted by the administration:

  • Medicaid. A joint state and federal program that provides health care coverage to eligible pregnant women, seniors, parents, people with disabilities, and low-income adults. Medicaid also provides half of the funding for state developmental centers as well as community-based disability service agencies and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) administers Illinois’ Medicaid spending, some in partnership with the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Department on Aging. Slashing Medicaid would end health care coverage for nearly 1 million Illinoisans, put 22,000 jobs in danger, and risk the closure of hospitals and medical providers.
  • Unemployment insurance. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES) manages the state’s unemployment insurance program. Employee positions are entirely federally funded and could be in jeopardy if federal support is cut or conditioned.
  • Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA). Part of the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL), Illinois OSHA is responsible for enforcing workplace safety standards for Illinois state and local government employees. It is 50% funded by the federal government.
  • Highway funds. Federal highway funds in our state are administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for the construction and maintenance of highways and bridges. Cuts could threaten jobs supported by the State Road Fund, Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, and Bridge Investment Program.
  • Public health. Illinois receives tens of millions of dollars in federal funding to support its public health services and workforce, such as from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the state Department of Public Health (IDPH).
  • Education. The new administration says it wants to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and cut or restrict the funding it provides to states. The Illinois State Board of Education receives some $4 billion a year in federal funding that supports ISBE staff and programs and is passed through to local schools.

These massive funding cuts are straight out of the Project 2025 playbook, a product of Russell Vought, Trump's appointee to be director of Office of Management and Budget.

AFSCME Council 31 is working through our national union to build a strong grassroots response to these cuts—and many others that are likely to follow.

FY26 State Budget

Sweeping cuts in federal funds would have a profoundly harmful effect on the Illinois state budget, which is already projected to have a $3.2 billion shortfall in the coming fiscal year that starts July 1.

Most federal government operations have been turned over to billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It appears that Musk’s idea of an efficient government is one that doesn’t have any employees.

So there’s every reason to be concerned that the sweeping cutbacks underway in D.C. could soon drastically reduce the resources that Illinois has available to pay its own public workers—with the very real threat of layoffs. State agencies are already severely short-staffed—and the state will not be able to meet its mandates or fulfill its mission if there are cutbacks or layoffs.  

Gov. Pritzker will deliver his proposed budget plan on Feb. 19. The AFSCME Council 31 lobbying team will be at the State Capitol throughout the legislative session working to make sure that any final budget protects state employee jobs and the vital services we provide.

Trump targets union rights

During his first days in office, President Trump signed a series of anti-worker executive orders that threaten to hand over the fate of public service workers to billionaires and anti-union extremists.

Here are some ways the new executive orders attempt to decimate the rights of public service workers, particularly federal employees:

  • Undermine the civil service. The administration recycled an order from 2020 making it easier to fire thousands of federal workers. Known as “Schedule F” at the time but never implemented four years ago, the order now creates a new classification for “policy/career” federal employees and revokes their civil service protections.
  • Target public services and workers through the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The administration plans to bring in DOGE teams at each federal agency. These teams will be staffed by people with little accountability or knowledge of the agencies they’re tasked with slashing.
  • Cancel collective bargaining agreements. Trump has instructed his agencies to refuse to honor union contracts negotiated within 30 days before the new administration took office. This is a blatantly illegal direct assault on workers’ right to union representation and contract law.
  • Illegal buyout offer backed with threat of termination. More than 2 million federal employees received emails with the subject line “A Fork In the Road”, unlawfully attempting to coerce them to voluntarily resign now or face the threat of job loss without compensation later.

Get ready!

Council 31 is in close contact with the Illinois AFL-CIO, other unions, the governor’s office, state agency management, and other employers whose budgets, programs, services and jobs are threatened by federal cuts. We don’t know what lies ahead at this point—whether this is the worst of the storm or just the first downpour.  

But there’s little doubt that, as outlined in Project 2025, there is a massive assault on government services and employees underway. We need to be prepared to stand up and stand together to protect our rights, our jobs, and the communities we serve.