Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Illinois

By Brad Weisenstein, Ben Szalinski

09/18/2020

This page will be updated daily to reflect developments related to the spread of COVID-19 in Illinois.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, IDPH: Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois, JB Pritzker, Lori Lightfoot

Official Illinois progressive tax explainer ranges from misleading to wrong

By Adam Schuster

09/18/2020

Progressive income tax proponents put factually inaccurate and misleading claims into a constitutionally required pamphlet intended to inform voters about a proposed amendment.

TAGS: constitutional amendment, fair tax, JB Pritzker, progressive tax

Illinois Tollway shows how political promises are easily broken

By Ben Szalinski

09/17/2020

Illinois tolls were supposed to be temporary. A progressive tax is only supposed to hurt 3% of Illinoisans. Political promises mean little in Illinois.

TAGS: fair tax, Illinois Tollway, JB Pritzker, progressive tax

When Illinois politicians call taxes ‘temporary’ or ‘fair,’ they won’t be

By Ben Szalinski

09/16/2020

Illinois lawmakers make many promises about tax increases. Then they break those promises.

TAGS: fair tax, JB Pritzker, progressive tax

Transportation spending shows ‘fair tax’ ripe for waste

By Ben Szalinski

09/15/2020

Politicians pledged to rebuild decaying roads and bridges if taxpayers paid just a little bit more, but too often the funds were misused and the promises meant little.

TAGS: fair tax, gas tax, JB Pritzker, waste

New Pritzker lockdowns driven by politics over science

By Brad Weisenstein

08/28/2020

Two areas of Illinois faced the same COVID-19 threat but received very different treatment from the governor. One is home to a political power base he needs to pass his progressive income tax in November.

TAGS: coronavirus, COVID-19, executive order, JB Pritzker

Reality check on 5 false claims used to boost Pritzker’s ‘fair tax’

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill

08/27/2020

Voters can expect to be bombarded by claims about the ‘fair tax’ until Nov. 3 – but what are the facts? Proponents have made misleading claims in hopes of convincing Illinoisans to do away with the flat tax.

TAGS: fair tax, flat tax, income inequality, income tax, JB Pritzker, progressive income tax, taxes

Progressive income tax study guide

By Orphe Divounguy, Adam Schuster, Bryce Hill

08/27/2020

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls it the “fair tax.” Opponents say it’s a “blank check” for irresponsible spending. Here’s what you need to know.

TAGS: ballot referendums, California, Connecticut, corporate income tax, fair tax, general election, graduated income tax, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, income tax, JB Pritzker, middle class, outmigration, Springfield

What Illinoisans need to know about the progressive income tax

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill

08/27/2020

Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls his $3.7 billion income tax hike a “fair tax.” But opponents have criticized the constitutional amendment as a blank check for House Speaker Mike Madigan and other state lawmakers, courtesy of Illinois taxpayers.

TAGS: fair tax, graduated income tax, Illinois Constitution, income tax, JB Pritzker, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, progressive income tax, property taxes, taxes

Link in the chain of Illinois power, corruption, taxes

By Vincent Caruso

08/26/2020

With the "fair tax" campaign, lawmakers aim to sell voters a shovel to entrench the status quo by advertising it as a weapon with which to fight against it.

TAGS: corruption, fair tax, federal investigation, JB Pritzker, Mike Madigan, Terry Link

Pension apocalypse? COVID-19 exposes long-running fragility of Illinois public pensions

Illinois’ pension crisis has been a growing problem for decades, and its negative effects on state residents are well documented.1 Economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government shutdown orders threaten to bring that long-running crisis closer to its breaking point. The state’s five pension systems collectively held nearly $139 billion of debt at...

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Pension apocalypse? COVID-19 exposes long-running fragility of Illinois public pensions

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Joanne Troesch

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students