Media Contact: Diana Rickert or Melanie Krakauer 312-607-4977
Video message from CEO John Tillman

CHICAGO (June 20, 2017) – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has called lawmakers back to Springfield this week. In a speech delivered tonight, Rauner expressed support for a budget proposal that raises taxes by more than $5 billion and fails to materially reform state government. Illinois Policy CEO John Tillman released the following statement:

“Over the past few days, Republicans in the Illinois General Assembly have proposed a so-called ‘compromise’ plan that includes a massive tax increase in exchange for very little by way of reform. Unfortunately, the governor has endorsed the plan.

“While this was done in the spirit of compromise, it is a mistake. This ‘compromise’ means every Illinoisan will take home less pay, and the state will continue to spend far beyond its means. If this budget plan is enacted, Illinois will be right back at a deficit within a few years because spending will continue to grow faster than revenues, even with a giant $5.4 billion tax hike.

“That is not a compromise; that is a failure.

“Politicians don’t need more money to spend. And if Illinoisans are forced to send more money to Springfield, it won’t end the dysfunction; it will feed it. And the crises will go on and on.

“There’s no question our state is in distress and the budget impasse has been long and brutal. But let’s think about what is at stake here: It is not the state budget. Illinois was in crisis for years with very bad state budgets in place. In fact, it is years of bad budgets that created the current crisis.

“The state budget is important, but it is only important because it is the instrument through which elected officials fulfill their obligations to the people of Illinois. Unfortunately, for too many years the state budget has been an instrument to enrich the privileged, the powerful and the special interests.

“It’s too expensive to live here. There aren’t enough good jobs. And our government is broken. It doesn’t have to be this way.

“Illinois needs a balanced budget without a tax hike that makes spending for the poor and disadvantaged, who are suffering the most, its No. 1 priority.

“We don’t need a tax increase to do this. The Illinois Policy Institute has crafted a budget plan that balances the budget without tax increases, provides property tax relief, materially reforms spending, and changes our public pension system in a way that complies with the Illinois Constitution as it is written.  Most important, the Institute’s proposal changes the trajectory that our state is on so that Illinois can finally climb out of its long, lingering crises and once again be prosperous.

“During the special session, we urge lawmakers to advance a state budget and end the impasse. But the plan they adopt must be based on the Illinois Policy Institute’s Budget Solutions proposal, or any other plan that implements a reform budget and does not raise taxes. A tax increase without material reform will not solve our problems; it will only repeat history, and Illinois will be in even worse shape in very short order.”

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