Gas was $3.05 per gallon in Illinois. It was over $1 higher than a year ago and the highest since the state gasoline tax doubled to 38 cents per gallon and is set to increase again July 1.
A new law gives the Chicago Teachers Union more leverage in contract negotiations, and more opportunities to go on strike. Eight of the nation’s 10 largest school districts prohibit teacher strikes.
High courts in Wisconsin and Michigan have both ruled governors cannot repeatedly issue disaster declarations as a basis for mask mandates and other orders without legislative approval. A year into the pandemic, Illinois’ governor is still doing it.
A tax credit is providing scholarships for Illinois’ low-income and minority students, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker is targeting the program that lets them thrive when public schools are a poor fit.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will collect $85,000 a year, but in a little more than a year his pension will shoot up to nearly $150,000 a year.
Combine the corporate tax rate President Joe Biden wants to fund his infrastructure plan with Illinois’ tax, and the resulting rate would be 35.4% – fifth highest in the nation and second in the Midwest.
A bipartisan ‘spending cap’ bill would allow predictable, sustainable growth in state spending without tax hikes. Illinois is one of the few states without a similar fiscal restraint.
A former Illinois state senator was charged with federal income tax crimes. Her Senate financial disclosure statement shows why they are known as ‘none’ sheets. Reforms are needed.
Illinois has a chance to fix its state finances, thanks to federal relief. But unless pension growth is brought under control, both retirees and taxpayers will be at risk as debt continues to consume state services.