The budget proposal includes no reforms to pensions or other cost drivers, misleadingly labels various business tax increases as ‘closing corporate tax loopholes,’ and relies on gimmicks that conceal true deficits. And there’s a new gas tax.
While the private sector is held to a higher standard, rules from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board have enabled Illinois to engage in reckless financial practices that harm taxpayers and the state’s economy.
Delivered virtually Feb. 17, 2021, from the Illinois State Fairgrounds
Illinois needed federal aid far more than other states because of pension crisis inaction, as well as an irresponsible pandemic budget. Bailouts won’t protect taxpayers or services for vulnerable Illinoisans, but reforms can.
“If you try to go outside of your district here in the state of Illinois, you will pay tens of thousands of dollars per school year per student.”
The nation’s second-highest property taxes could come down if Illinois cut school bureaucracy and reformed public pensions. Until they do, fixing the housing stock is a tough sell.
A new report from government finance watchdog Truth in Accounting gave the Windy City an “F” for financial health. Chicago’s massive $36 billion net debt stems primarily from pensions.
A new ranking puts Illinois’ corporate tax rates near the top. Still, Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to extract $900 million more from corporations after failing to stop up to $1 billion in COVID-19 tax credits for small businesses.
“Raising taxes won’t solve the problem, because people who can afford to move will simply move out of state. Cutting services to pay the pensions will also drive people to relocate.
Illinois’ weak economic foundations and fiscal mismanagement were preexisting conditions that caused it to suffer a deeper COVID-19 downturn. They will also hurt its recovery.
Congress provided tax benefits for business losses in the CARES Act to help offset economic challenges during the pandemic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to undo that relief to raise revenue for Illinois.
Decades of institutionalized financial mismanagement left Illinois with the nation’s worst fiscal health. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been at the center of nearly every bad decision along the way.
Excise taxes have failed to improve Illinoisans’ health while creating an undue burden for those with the least. But lawmakers have yet to kick the habit.
Anyone betting those lottery tickets they gifted will help education would lose.