Illinois lawmakers expected to vote on budget bill

June 30, 2017

Illinois Policy Institute experts available for interviews.

Media Contact: Meghan Keenan or Diana Rickert (312) 607-4977
SPRINGFIELD (June 30, 2017) – Illinois lawmakers are expected to vote today on at least one bill related to the state budget, Senate Bill 6. But like so many proposals before it, this bill won’t fix the state’s deteriorating finances.

Senate Bill 6 outlines the spending components of the House Democrats’ budget proposal. That budget plan spends $36.5 billion, and proposes raising the state income tax by $5 billion a year. The Democrats’ budget plan contains less than $2.4 billion in spending cuts, and does not make any necessary structural reforms to reduce the growth of state spending – the real cause of Illinois’ fiscal crisis.

Experts from the Illinois Policy Institute are available in Springfield and Chicago for interviews about the budget bill, the turn of the fiscal year and to discuss how Illinois can climb out of this mess.

TALKING POINTS:

  • Tax hikes have been tried in Illinois before. They’ve inevitably failed because they don’t fix the core problems of too much debt and too much spending. In fact, they allow such reckless behavior to continue. Taxpayers need to put Illinois’ government on a diet, not the other way around.
  • Illinois homeowners already pay the highest property taxes in the U.S., and the highest overall tax burden in the U.S. according to WalletHub.
  • Despite all this, Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan appear united in their call to raise the state income tax by $5 million a year, or $1,125 per household.
  • Neither the GOP budget proposal nor the Democratic budget plan dramatically reform spending – the real cause of Illinois’ fiscal problems.
  • In fact, if the GOP budget plan backed by Gov. Rauner is implemented, the state will be deficit spending again by 2020.
  • Illinois’ economy is too weak for a tax hike. In fact, Illinois’ economic growth from 2007-2016 was weaker than the economic growth during the weakest period of America’s Great Depression, from 1930-1939.
  • Weak economic growth has resulted in Illinois having the nation’s highest black unemployment rate and second-highest youth unemployment rate. Illinois has the worst recovery of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, and the worst recovery of single-family housing starts in the U.S. Finally, the Land of Lincoln still has fewer jobs than it did in the year 2000.

For bookings or interviews: Diana Rickert or Meghan Keenan, media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977