Budget + Tax Archives

Lawmakers should stand firm in tax-hike extension opposition during lame-duck session

Taxpayers finally scored a victory in Illinois. Lawmakers kept their promise and passed a budget slated to provide income tax relief starting in January 2015. But a threat to that relief still looms large. After the November election this fall, current lawmakers will meet for a final time in January for their lame-duck session. There’s...

By Benjamin VanMetre

‘Keep Your Promise’: IL lawmakers must let temporary tax hikes sunset

Temporary tax hikes notoriously stick around longer than planned. Pennsylvania passed a 10 percent tax on alcohol to pay for damage from a flood in 1936. The state continued to levy the tax after the flood damage was paid for. Today the rate is 18 percent. But lawmakers across the country have been better at...

By Benjamin VanMetre

Lawmakers sweeten pitch for the Obama library with taxpayer dollars

Today is the submission deadline for proposals to the Barack Obama Foundation, the organization tasked with accepting bids from various contenders vying for Obama’s future presidential library and museum. The competition as it stands is between Hawaii, New York and Illinois; where President Obama was born, where he received his undergraduate degree and where he...

By Jane McEnaney

Illinois needs a real balanced budget requirement

Politicians are waiting for Gov. Pat Quinn to approve their state budget, and many are complaining that the budget isn’t balanced. “The effect of the budget is to delay doomsday by borrowing and increasing our backlog of bills,” said a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton. “Admittedly, this budget reverses some of the progress that...

By Benjamin VanMetre

The Pledge

Illinois Policy Action is announcing an initiative to help hold legislators accountable to their word following the three major state income tax defeats during the spring session. We will be asking all House and Senate members to sign our “Keep Your Promise” pledge, which will affirm politicians’ stated opposition to keeping permanent the temporary 5...

By Matt Paprocki

Quinn signs Chicago cell-phone tax hike

Chicagoans could be on the brink of a cell-phone tax hike. Gov. Pat Quinn has signed into law an amendment to House Bill 2453, which gives the city of Chicago the authority to raise the city’s per-line 911 fee to $3.90 from the current fee of $2.50. Chicago cell-phone users are already hit hard by...

By Hilary Gowins

2014 legislative victories

The driving goal of the Illinois Policy Institute is to transform liberty principles into marketable policies that become law. The ultimate sign of success is when free market ideas are enacted into laws that change Illinoisans’ lives for the better. Illinois Policy Action’s 2014 legislative agenda emphasized the importance of a financially responsible and limited...

By Matt Paprocki

Illinois’ fiscal year 2015: The good, the bad and the ugly

The 2014 legislative roller coaster is finally over. The good news is that all Illinois taxpayers are on track to see income tax relief next year. The bad news is that politicians pushed through a last-minute budget deal that relies heavily on gimmicks and budget games. Here’s a snapshot of the good, the bad and...

By Benjamin VanMetre

Illinois per-gallon gas taxes are 8th highest in nation

Illinois drivers pay, on average, $0.39 per gallon in state gas taxes. That amount adds up quickly. A driver purchasing 15 gallons of gas in Illinois shells out about $6 extra in state taxes, on top of the price of the gasoline itself. Illinois’ per-gallon gas tax is the eighth highest in the country, according...

By Hilary Gowins

Illinois should repeal the death tax

Of all Illinois’ taxes, its death tax is the most morbid. Only 15 states in the U.S. levy a tax on death, and Illinois has the second-highest rate. Death taxes include estate and inheritance taxes. They hit certain Illinois families hard. Farmers, investors and business owners often need substantial assets to generate a moderate income....

By Michael Lucci

Illinois legislators try to resurrect unconstitutional ‘Amazon tax’

Last October, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s “Amazon tax,” a state law that would have forced many online retailers to pay Illinois taxes regardless of whether they had any physical presence in the state. Now, despite this ruling, some legislators are trying to bring back this tax. The “Amazon tax” required Amazon...

Chicago has nation’s worst travel tax burden

There’s nothing like summer in Chicago – after months of winter weather, the city awakens and becomes a haven for residents and tourists alike. But travelers who come to the city take in its splendor at a high price, on top of what they pay for hotel rooms, dinner and entertainment. Out-of-towners shell out more...

By Hilary Gowins

Illinois House defeats soda tax

Illinois lawmakers have voted down a proposal that would have imposed a $0.01 per-ounce tax on soft drinks sold in the state of Illinois. According to the Illinois Manufacturers Association, the tax would have added $2.88 to the cost of a case of soft drinks. It would also have added to the already-heavy regulatory burden...

By Bryant Jackson-Green

5 steps to immediately save Illinois more than $1.8 billion next year

Illinois politicians passed a record income tax increase in January 2011. Part of the deal they made was to allow most of that tax hike to sunset in 2015. That deadline is quickly approaching – Illinois’ income tax rates are legally required to come down in nearly six months. Lawmakers should have been preparing for...

By Benjamin VanMetre