The Problem

• State spending in Illinois has skyrocketed over the past decade, increasing 39% after inflation per capita since 1998. Meanwhile, population has only grown 6.8%.

• In 1998, state spending per citizen was $3500. Ten years later, state spending per citizen was $4600 (inflation adjusted).

• Overall, the state budget has ballooned from $24.7 billion in 2004 to $32.2 billion in 2009. That’s an increase of nearly 30 percent over just five years.

•  In fiscal year 2009, Illinois spent $4.3 billion more than it brought in.

• While Governor Quinn and others claim there isn’t much left to cut in the state budget, a cursory glance at the 2009 budget reveals at least $33,911,897 in blatant waste, including high-end porta-potties, livestock awards, “urban fishing,” and more.

• The Chicago Tribune reports that despite “doomsday” predictions from Springfield, legislators are somehow managing to find plenty of taxpayer dollars for pork.

• Lawmakers have approved $3.1 billion in pork projects,” the Tribune editorialized on June 4, “even as Quinn warns of crippling state services to the poor and sick! A bill passed early Monday detailing the work is 972 pages long. The legislature approved some $1 billion a year in new taxes (and, ugh, video poker revenues) to pay for that pork and other capital projects. Put some of that money to … preserving those threatened social services.”

• Even if the imposition of Quinn’s income tax hike increase has only been delayed by half a year, it will have saved taxpayers in Illinois $1 billion in higher taxes. That is $1 billion that individuals, families, and businesses will have on hand to save, spend or invest as they set fit. That’s a stimulus package that actually works.

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois has lost 198,600 non-farm jobs since March of 1999. A corporate and income tax hike will do nothing but speed the flight of jobs from our state.

• Government employees in Illinois make an average of 12% more than their privatesector equivalents. These salaries are paid by the taxpayers—and in 2007, the price tag was $5,086,700,000. If regular citizens are taking financial cuts, shouldn’t government employees do the same?

• If Illinois had enacted an expenditure limit in 2004 that limited spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth, the state could have saved $13.7 billion over the past six years. That’s money that could have been put in a rainy day fund, applied toward unfunded pension liabilities, or even refunded to taxpayers.

Our Solution

Illinois does not have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. Read our comprehensive Budget Solutions 2010 report to find out how we can balance the state’s budget without tax hikes while continuing to provide core services to citizens.