Because Illinois state lawmakers waited until the last minute to pass a budget, no one noticed multiple errors that could have halted about half of the state’s spending until a month before the fiscal year ended. Haste makes waste of taxpayer dollars.

The fiscal year 2022 budget includes pay hikes for members of the Illinois General Assembly, who were already among the nation’s highest-paid state lawmakers. It also boosts office allowances and leader stipends.

Leaders claimed the budget was balanced and included no tax hikes, but neither is true. Illinois state lawmakers for the 21st time passed a deficit budget – one that includes $655 million in new taxes and a nearly $1,200 raise for themselves.

Illinois politicians used Madigan’s teachings – avoid messy democracy and disenfranchise taxpayers – by again waiting until the last minute to pass major legislation. Good things rarely grow in the dark.

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.

The budget proposal includes no reforms to pensions or other cost drivers, misleadingly labels various business tax increases as ‘closing corporate tax loopholes,’ and relies on gimmicks that conceal true deficits. And there’s a new gas tax.

While the private sector is held to a higher standard, rules from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board have enabled Illinois to engage in reckless financial practices that harm taxpayers and the state’s economy.

Delivered virtually Feb. 17, 2021, from the Illinois State Fairgrounds