Pritzker ‘fair tax’ would hit over 4 million Illinoisans with marriage penalty, potentially give wealthy couples a marriage bonus

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill

02/12/2020

A progressive income tax would force nearly all joint filers in Illinois to pay higher income taxes than they would as single filers. Meanwhile, some wealthy couples would save thousands in state income taxes.

TAGS: JB Pritzker, marriage penalty, progressive income tax

Pritzker claims statewide economic growth, but these Illinois metro areas are shedding jobs

By Bryce Hill

02/10/2020

Despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker touting growth in “every major region,” Illinois shed jobs in three metropolitan areas and lagged the national average in seven more.

TAGS: Bloomington, BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics, budget, carbondale, Champaign, Chicago, constitutional amendment, economic competitiveness, economic growth, economics, economy, employment, fair tax, flat tax, government spending, graduated income tax, Great Recession, growth, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Illinois General Assembly, income growth, JB Pritzker, job creation, job market, jobs, jobs growth, labor, labor force, labor market, Madison County, metro, metro areas, Metro East, Moline, pension, pension benefits, pension costs, pension crisis, pension debt, pension obligations, pension reform, pension spending, pensions, peoria, population, population decline, population growth, population loss, progressive income tax, progressive tax, recession, rockford, Spending, spending cap, Springfield, St. Clair County, state constitution, tax burden, tax hikes, tax increase, unemployment, urbana, working-age

Slowest-growing states have progressive income taxes

By Bryce Hill

02/07/2020

Fewer people want to live in states with progressive income taxes. So after 6 straight years of population loss, why would Illinois want to join them?

TAGS: ballot, ballot referendums, corporate income tax, exodus, fair tax, flat is fair, flat tax, graduated income tax, Great Recession, high taxes, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Illinois General Assembly, income tax, JB Pritzker, outmigration, pension, pension benefits, pension contributions, pension costs, pension crisis, pension debt, pension obligations, pension reform, pension spending, pensions, population, population decline, population growth, population loss, progressive income tax, progressive tax, recession, spending cap, Springfield, state constitution, tax base, tax burden, tax hikes, tax increase, tax revenue, taxpayers, tennessee, Texas, U.S. Census Bureau, West Virginia, working-age

Former state Rep. Arroyo pleads not guilty to bribery charge

By Ben Szalinski

02/05/2020

Arroyo resigned from his seat in the Illinois General Assembly after his arrest in October on bribery charges. He now faces up to 10 years in prison for bribery.

TAGS: bribery, corruption, fair tax, FBI, federal investigation, graduated income tax, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois Senate, IRS: Internal Revenue Service, JB Pritzker, lobbying, lobbyists, Luis Arroyo, Martin Sandoval, progressive income tax, progressive tax, red light cameras, Springfield, tax fraud, Terry Link

Illinois government spending growth among nation’s highest, personal income growth among lowest

By Bryce Hill

02/04/2020

Robust growth in government spending has failed to yield similar results for Illinoisans’ incomes

TAGS: economic competitiveness, economic growth, government spending, growth, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Illinois General Assembly, income growth, JB Pritzker, job creation, job market, jobs, jobs growth, pension costs, pension reform, pension spending, private sector, public sector, Spending, spending cap, Springfield

Illinois home price growth slowest in nation last year

By Bryce Hill

02/03/2020

Home price appreciation in Illinois was the slowest in the U.S. between the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2019, federal data showed.

TAGS: Chicago, Chicagoland, Cook County, government spending, Great Recession, home values, homeownership, house price, household income, housing, housing market, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, income tax, Indiana, investment, JB Pritzker, Lake County, mortgage, pension spending, recession, Spending, Springfield, tax hikes, tax increase

Illinois police serve search warrant at Madigan’s Springfield office, looking for evidence of sexual assault, battery by former state lawmaker

By Austin Berg

02/01/2020

State police executed the search warrant in an attempt to find evidence of criminal behavior by former Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks.

TAGS: corruption, fair maps, fair tax, graduated income tax, house rules, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Illinois House of Representatives, illinois state police, independent maps, investigation, Jack Franks, JB Pritzker, legislative map, mapmaking, Mike Madigan, progressive income tax, progressive tax, redistricting, rules committee, search warrant, sexual abuse, sexual harrassment, sexual violence, Springfield, State of the State

‘Fair tax’ backer pleads guilty to bribery, tax fraud

By Vincent Caruso

01/28/2020

Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval once headed the powerful Senate Transportation Committee. He now faces up to 13 years in prison on corruption charges involving a controversial red-light camera company.

TAGS: bribery, Chicago, conflict of interest, corruption, Ed Burke, embezzlement, ethics, fair maps, fair tax, FBI, federal investigation, fraud, graduated income tax, house rules, IDOT: Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, IRS: Internal Revenue Service, JB Pritzker, Luis Arroyo, Martin Sandoval, pork barrel spending, progressive income tax, progressive tax, red light cameras, redistricting, revolving door, Springfield, tax fraud, Tom Cullerton

Bill would let wrongly arrested clear their names without paying

By Ben Szalinski

01/28/2020

Expungement and sealing fees cause individuals with erroneous criminal records to have a hard time moving forward with their lives.

TAGS: act, Cook County, crime, criminal justice, decriminalization, expungement, fee, Illinois General Assembly, JB Pritzker, overcriminalization, public, records, reform, restore my good name, waiver

State of the state: Pritzker saw worst first-year jobs numbers since Blagojevich

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill

01/27/2020

Illinois job creation lagged the national median in nearly every sector.

TAGS: 401(k), BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Chicago, constitutional amendment, economic competitiveness, economic growth, fair tax, government spending, graduated income tax, housing, housing market, IDES: Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Illinois General Assembly, income, income growth, JB Pritzker, job creation, job market, jobs, jobs growth, labor, labor force, labor force participation rate, neighboring states, outmigration, payroll, pension, pension benefits, pension costs, pension crisis, pension debt, pension reform, pension spending, pensions, personal income, population, population loss, private sector, progressive income tax, progressive tax, public sector, retirement, retirement age, Spending, spending cap, Springfield, state constitution, tax burden, tax hikes, tax increase, U.S. Census Bureau, unemployment

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

View Report

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

Report Archive

Ifeoma Nkemdi

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

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