PRESS RELEASE: Poll Shows Widespread Public Opposition to Tax Hike

Seventy percent of Illinoisans believe state government is spending too much money, according to a study released Wednesday. 


JAN. 12, 2011 – Seventy percent of Illinoisans believe state government is spending too much money, according to a study released Wednesday. 

A statewide poll, commissioned by the non-partisan Illinois Policy Institute, also showed that most Illinoisans believe the solution to solving the state’s fiscal woes is spending cuts – not raising taxes as Democrats in the state legislature decided just after midnight Wednesday.

Among the poll’s findings:

• Seventy percent of residents surveyed said state government spends too much money; 13 percent say state spending levels are “about right” and nine percent say state government spends “too little” money.
• Fifty-seven percent of residents surveyed said state spending should be cut to close the budget shortfall. Only 33 percent said raising taxes was the solution.
• An overwhelming majority of residents –  72 percent – said they “totally favor” an amendment to the state constitution to limit state spending growth.

John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, said the poll’s findings show how blatantly the state legislature ignored the will of Illinois taxpayers.

“The tax hike tells the working class and middle class voters of Illinois where they stand with the Democratically-controlled state government – they stand on the outside, looking in,” Tillman said. “At the front of the line are the public employee unions, their leaders and all who benefit from state government spending at the expense of average citizens.”

The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a national public affairs research firm.

For additional information or commentary on the poll’s findings, contact the Institute’s Manager of Media Relations Diana Rickert: Diana@IllinoisPolicy.org or 312-725-8039.