Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s insistence that Chicago Public Schools receive more than its fair share of state education funding is putting any stopgap budget deal at risk.
A representative from the state-worker union called for collective action from governments of prison towns to force Gov. Bruce Rauner’s hand in the budget debate, which could expose thousands of incarcerated Illinoisans to squalid, dangerous conditions.
If Springfield politicians do not pass a budget by June 30, the state will be forced to stop payments to winning lottery ticket holders, Illinois’ comptroller has warned.
Madigan’s record $40 billion spending proposal and its $7 billion deficit revealed he was never serious about reaching a budget deal with Rauner. Instead it was nothing more than an attempt to create a deeper fiscal crisis, force additional tax hikes and create a bailout for the city of Chicago. As long as Madigan and other lawmakers keep prioritizing politics over people, Illinois will continue its downward spiral.
The average single-family home in Chicago will see a $400 increase in property taxes. And property-tax revenues for the city of Chicago will top $1 billion for the first time in city history.
City officials are moving to develop the largest remaining plot of vacant land to ensure huge windfalls for a city-run slush fund.
Munger said that if raising taxes were the only answer to the budget crisis, lawmakers would have to increase the income tax from its current 3.75 percent to 8 percent.
Legislation to make union-contract negotiations more transparent has been repeatedly proposed, but lawmakers continue to opt for secrecy at taxpayers’ expense.
Lawmakers missed an opportunity to provide relief for taxpayers struggling in East St. Louis.
Major ratings agencies have assigned a negative outlook to Illinois. To move forward, the state can’t pass just any budget – especially one that’s $7 billion out-of-whack – to get beyond its crisis. With today’s fiscal stress, a bad budget is worse than no budget. A budget without reforms will only allow Illinois’ debt to continue to spiral, putting investors – and more importantly, Illinois residents – at risk.
Politicians have repeatedly prioritized funding state-worker pay and benefits over social services and other vital programs.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is again mailing notices of vehicle-emissions-testing requirements to vehicle owners, and effective June 1, the Illinois secretary of state has resumed requiring certain drivers to pass emissions tests prior to renewing their license plates. Drivers scrambling to comply by the secretary of state’s June 1 effective date caused headline-making traffic jams throughout Chicago and its suburbs.
Belleville City Council’s decision to dissolve its township is a great move for taxpayers. Thousands of municipalities could make the same move, too, and eliminate waste.
Taxpayers will shell out $36 million for Soldier Field in 2016, in addition to footing the bill for U.S. Cellular Field. And the city of Chicago is still pushing a plan for DePaul University that would cost an initial $55 million for a new basketball stadium.