2019 laws in review, Illinois lawmakers passed both nice and naughty bills

By Mindy Ruckman
12/20/2019
The Illinois General Assembly passed over 600 new laws in 2019. Some helped taxpayers, but many more hurt as they spent $85 billion while doing little to fix the pension crisis.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, capital plan, consolidation, Cook County, corruption, expungement, free speech, gas tax, government unions, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, JB Pritzker, lawmakers, Luis Arroyo, Martin Sandoval, Open Illinois Checkbook, progressive income tax, record sealing, Springfield, tax hikes, taxes, transparency, vehicle registration

9 new Illinois taxes totaling $1.7B take effect Jan. 1

By Adam Schuster
12/15/2019
Nearly half of the 20 tax and fee hikes passed to support a record $40 billion state budget and $45 billion infrastructure plan hit on New Year’s Day.

TAGS: cannabis, cigarette tax, economy, electric car, electric vehicle, gas tax, graduated income tax, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, JB Pritzker, marijuana, motor fuel tax, New Year's Day, online sales tax, parking garages, parking tax, progressive income tax, registration fee, spending, spending cap, Springfield, tax hikes, tax increase, taxes, trade-in tax, vehicle registration

Repeal Day: Prohibition ended 86 years ago, but Illinois’ alcohol taxes, regulations remain sobering

By Vincent Caruso
12/05/2019
With the ratification of the 21st Amendment, 1933 marked the end of Prohibition in the United States. Illinois, however, has continued to serve a cocktail of prohibitive regulations on alcoholic beverages.

TAGS: alcohol tax, Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois, Bruce Rauner, capital plan, Chicago, craft beer, distillery, Hospitality Business Association of Chicago, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, JB Pritzker, Liquor Control Act, liquor laws, Midwest, prohibition, Sara Feigenholtz, soda tax, taxes, Toni Preckwinkle, vape ban, vaping, Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois

As nation celebrates small businesses, Illinois considers taxing them more

By Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill
11/27/2019
Most new jobs in Illinois are created by small businesses, yet state leaders are asking voters to hurt them by raising taxes on these employment dynamos.

TAGS: BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics, entrepreneurs, Great Recession, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, investment, JB Pritzker, job creation, progressive income tax, s-corp, small business, spending cap, taxes, Tennessee, Texas

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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...

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Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

By J. Scott Moody, Wendy Warcholik
07/07/2014

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

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016