SPRINGFIELD — While Gov. JB Pritzker delivered a no-new-taxes, belt-tightening spending proposal for Illinois on Wednesday, the prospective presidential contender spoke to a larger, national audience by likening the actions of President Donald Trump and his followers to the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany.

Painting a brighter picture of the state’s finances than his administration had last year, when a $3.2 billion budget hole was said to loom, Pritzker’s $55.2 billion plan for the year beginning July 1 includes required funding increases for schools and pension contributions. But the proposal keeps spending flat in most other areas, including programs favored by the second-term Democrat and his allies in the General Assembly.

The governor also rolled out a series of policy proposals not tied to the budget, including efforts to reduce prescription drug costs and limit students’ use of cellphones during the school day.

But Pritzker, a frequent Trump critic who’s yet to say whether he’ll seek a third term in 2026, spent a substantial portion of his roughly 35-minute speech in the Illinois House chamber criticizing the White House’s early fiscal and economic maneuvers and drawing parallels to the rapid rise of Germany’s Third Reich. He also called out both Republicans and fellow Democrats who go along with or appease Trump.

Pritzker, who is Jewish and led the effort to construct the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, said he doesn’t “invoke the specter of Nazis lightly,” but that he was “watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now.”

“After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities — once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends — after that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next?” he asked.

House GOP leader Tony McCombie said the speech was mostly “political rhetoric that is certainly going to put him on the stage for a presidential race.”

While revenue projections from sources such as sales and income taxes have improved since the fall, Trump’s proposed tariffs and reductions to federal spending could have ripple effects across the economy, the governor’s office warned.

As a result, difficult choices had to be made in putting together a proposal that is “balanced and responsible,” Pritzker said.

“It represents some hard sacrifices and moderated spending. We’re preserving the progress we’ve made over the last six years, streamlining certain departments to do more with less, and delivering for our residents without raising their taxes,” Pritzker said.

“I am not going to base a budget on bloated revenue estimates. I have never done that. Therefore, our spending must reflect reality. We have to live within our means,” he said.

Toward that end, the governor proposed the elimination of a state-run health care initiative for noncitizens under 65, a program popular with progressive lawmakers, but one where ballooning costs led to enrollment being sharply curbed. The move would save an estimated $330 million in state funding, the governor’s office said.

Pritzker proposed pausing one of the signature initiatives of his second term: a planned 20,000-seat expansion of state-funded preschool programs. While his proposal would continue funding for the 11,000 additional seats created over the past two years, there’s no money included for the 5,000 that were intended to be added next year under the original plan.

Speaking to reporters after the speech, Pritzker pointed to the pause as a sacrifice he’s proposing to a program that tops his list of priorities, adding that he would prefer to complete the expansion “as fast as humanly possible.”

During the address, he told lawmakers: “I stand ready to work with members of the General Assembly to deliberate and negotiate the final budget. But let’s be clear, I will only sign a balanced budget. If you come to the table looking to spend more — I’m going to ask you where you want to cut. I have made difficult decisions — including to programs I have championed, which is hard for me, just as I know some of the difficult decisions you will have to make will be hard for you.”

Pritzker’s proposal includes a mandated $350 million increase in state funding for elementary and secondary schools and $10.6 billion for pensions. The proposed pension funding is enough to meet the state’s required contribution and kick in $78 million to help ensure pensions for newer state employees meet a federal requirement to be on par with Social Security benefits.

Still, the Pritzker administration warned that economically, “forward expectations are mired in uncertainty” and that federal policy decisions driven by Trump and Republicans who control Congress could impact states “which have no means of ameliorating negative impacts.”

Pritzker’s proposed moves to balance the budget included an amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers, a pause in the final shift of state sales taxes on motor fuel purchases to the state’s road construction fund, and increased tax rates on table games at casinos outside Chicago, putting blackjack and roulette on even footing with slot machines, which currently are taxed at higher rates. Those changes together would generate an estimated $469 million, according to the governor’s office.

On top of that, the administration now forecasts individual income taxes will grow nearly $1 billion, or 3.5%, corporate income taxes will increase $353 million, or 7.2% and sales tax receipts will jump $171 million, or 1.6%.

As a result, the proposed spending plan contains an estimated surplus of $218 million, with $154 million of it dedicated to the state’s “rainy day” fund.

Pritzker touted his efforts to achieve fiscal accountability during his tenure, heralding six previously balanced budgets with nine state credit-rating upgrades, boosting funding in the once-depleted rainy day fund to more than $2.2 billion, paying $700 million more in pension funding above certified levels and retiring the state’s backlog of overdue bills.

But his move to eliminate the health care program for noncitizen immigrants under 65 already is drawing criticism from some fellow Democrats in Springfield.

Members of the legislative Latino Caucus acknowledged there’s work to be done before the scheduled adjournment at the end of May if they want to salvage the program. As of December, the program provided state-funded health insurance for about 33,000 people who don’t qualify for traditional Medicaid because of their immigration status, according to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from West Chicago, called the proposed elimination of the program “a significant hit” that was unexpected despite warnings about the anticipated budget crunch.

“We believe that health care’s a human right, and we believe that taking people off of health care is not the right answer,” Villa said.

Pritzker also faced intraparty criticism from members of the Black Caucus over his proposal.

Rep. Carol Ammons, an Urbana Democrat, said her district and others like it are “under attack” due their communities being unfunded when it comes to health care, education and other areas.

“What I am clear about is that at this very moment, I’m a ‘no’ vote on the budget,” Ammons said. “And until we get to a ‘yes,’ that means that my community needs to tell me that they are receiving resources that were promised to them.”

As one of the sponsors of the state’s 2017 school funding overhaul, Rep. Will Davis, a Homewood Democrat, has repeatedly suggested boosting the annual school funding increase from the $350 million minimum to about $550 million. On Wednesday, he suggested it be increased to $450 million, saying it would not only benefit all children in Illinois “but has a specific impact on Black school districts,” which often need that funding the most.

Pritzker also proposed several pieces of legislation, including measures requiring school districts to create policies that would ban student use of cellphones during classroom instruction, with limited exceptions; creating a one-stop shop for high school students’ direct admission to Illinois colleges through sharing academic information; and allowing selected community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees in programs tailored to their areas.

Other initiatives proposed by Pritzker would make it easier for voters to petition to eliminate or merge their township government and create state regulation of cryptocurrency firms and oversight of crypto ATMs.

Another initiative is aimed at increasing protections for women seeking abortion in the state, including legislation that would ensure the legal prescribing of abortion medications such as mifepristone if the FDA revokes approval as long as other peer-reviewed organizations such as the World Health Organization agree on their efficacy.

Pearson and Petrella reported from Chicago.