Three facts prove that sensible spending coupled with pro-growth reforms is the solution to the current crisis. 1. Illinois has a spending problem. Not a revenue problem. If Illinois spending had grown at the same rate as inflation and Illinois’ population, the state’s expenditures would have been $8 billion less than they were in 2014. Extending...
As the state faces its most pressing budget crisis ever, it is time to rethink how much of its income-tax revenue it can afford to pass back to local governments.
With a lame-duck session dead in the water, the 2011 income-tax hikes will sunset on schedule; a minimum-wage debate will wait until Rauner takes office; and taxpayers will not be on the hook for a state-funded health insurance exchange.
Illinois has the highest income taxes on the poor of almost any state in the country, but the solution is not simply to raise taxes on the wealthy, as some constantly push for in Illinois.
Hardworking Illinois families and entrepreneurs are just four months away from tax relief. The state’s personal income tax rate is slated to drop to 3.75 percent from 5 percent in January 2015. But a number of lawmakers and special-interest groups don’t want to let that happen. Tax-hike advocates across the state argue that Illinois needs...
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.