Pritzker’s 57 tax and fee hikes cost Illinoisans $77 billion

The governor has presided over $77 billion in increases while Illinois’ economic growth lags.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants more tax and fee hikes even after presiding over at least 57 of them since 2019 and with Illinois’ budget still in dysfunction.

New tax and fee burdens under Pritzker have cost taxpayers more than $77 billion. Last year alone, Illinoisans paid $16.5 billion more in state taxes than they would have if taxes stayed consistent with 2018 levels.

The median Illinois household now pays nearly $1,400 more per year in state taxes than it would have under prior levels.

Examples of recent tax policy moves in Illinois:

• The gas tax was doubled in 2019 from $0.19 to $0.38 per gallon and indexed to annual increases to inflation. It now stands at 48.3 cents per gallon.
• The net-operating-loss deduction was capped in 2021, effectively double-taxing Illinois companies.
• Late last year Pritzker signed a bill decoupling Illinois from federal business tax cuts.

Property taxes have risen 27% under Pritzker’s watch. While driven by local decisions, state policy, particularly around pension and school funding, has pressured local governments and contributed to those hikes.

What has the state accomplished with that money?

Illinois still has the nation’s third-lowest emergency reserves. Its pension crisis has worsened, with $143.5 billion in unfunded liabilities and three of the country’s worst-funded state-run systems. A forecast projects $21 billion in state budget shortfalls over the next five years.

This is not a revenue problem, something Pritzker himself has acknowledged. Illinois’ core budget issue is chronic overspending, which consistently outpaces economic growth.

Yet Pritzker wants more.

His proposed budget for fiscal 2027 includes almost $600 million in business tax hikes, including a first-of-its-kind social media use tax, potentially leading to legal battles.

Lawmakers have also made numerous efforts to end Illinois’ flat income tax rate, one of the few tax structures keeping Illinois tax environment even somewhat competitive. The most recent attempt called for a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million. The proposal passed out of committee but did not have the votes in the Illinois House to make it onto the November ballot.

After voters rejected Pritzker’s “Fair Tax” amendment in 2020, lawmakers shifted to quieter increases. But as those avenues also run dry, politically riskier ideas, such as income tax hikes, may resurface.

Illinois has often described tax increases as necessary, temporary or unavoidable. Rather than solving the state’s fiscal problems, they’ve fueled government spending, eroded voter trust and sent some Illinoisans packing.

All this comes as Illinois continues to post one of the slowest economic growth rates in the nation.

The state needs structural reform, not more taxes. Until lawmakers get serious about fixing government pensions and controlling state spending, new taxes won’t fix what’s broken.