Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension proposal (House Amendment #1 to Senate Bill 1) perpetuates Illinois’ crisis. The plan locks in the unmanageable defined benefit plan, guarantees the crowd out of core government services and continues the irresponsible pension payment ramp. Madigan’s plan keeps politicians in control of state employee pensions. By failing to get rid of...
by Brian Costin Gov. Pat Quinn just hiked my property taxes. And, if you’re younger than 65 years old, he just hiked your property taxes too. But if you attended Quinn’s bill signing ceremony for Senate Bill 1894 you would have seen him championing himself as a fighter against Illinois’ outrageously high property tax rates, as evidenced...
The problem The blame for Illinois’ pension crisis is often laid at the feet of state politicians who supposedly “skipped” payments and caused the state’s five pension systems to be underfunded. This has prompted legislators to add a “funding guarantee” to the current crop of pension reforms bills in order to stop any future pension...
States that dont have an income tax manage to stay out of the red, and many are even operating with budget surpluses. Texas, for example, currently foresees and $8.8 billion surplus over its current two-year budget cycle.
The average unemployment rate for states without an income tax is 6.6 percent. Illinois has the nations second-highest unemployment rate ringing in at 9.5 percent, or nearly three full percentage points higher than states that dont tax income.
April 25 marks Illinois Tax Freedom Day. This day commemorates the point in 2013 when Illinoisans have worked enough to cover the rising cost of federal, state and local government.
This memo provides a review of the funding guarantee provisions found in the pension reform bills that currently are or have been under consideration by the Illinois General Assembly.
A growing percentage of taxpayers owe nothing in income taxes after accounting for credits and deductions.
After tax credits and deductions are taken into account, the effective tax rate for top earners is more than twice the national average further proof that the tax burden is most definitely progressive.
Illinois current state excise taxes per gallon of beer ($0.23), wine ($1.39) and spirits ($8.55) are higher than most neighboring states.
Moodys is set to require states and local governments to use more transparent and realistic accounting rules when they report their true pension obligations. And that means Illinois debt and underfunding numbers will skyrocket.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced a proposal on Wednesday to spend $12.62 billion over the next six years on transportation projects.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry wrote a letter to businesses in Illinois, offering them a way to escape the states dire fiscal mess and punishing business climate move to Texas.
After several hours of debate, the city council voted 6-3 to raise the sales tax from 8 percent to 8.5 percent to repay an $86.6 million, 15-year bond issue to finance the three-year infrastructure program.