After July 1, Illinois motorists will be averaging $184 more in state gas taxes since Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled them in 2019. Illinois motorists already pay the second-highest gas taxes in the nation, and inflation adjustments just take them higher.

Illinois is on an upward path, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his State of the State speech. True, by some measures. Not so much by too many measures that matter.

Illinoisans pay the nation’s second-highest gas taxes behind only Californians, thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s automatic gas tax hikes. The next gas tax hike is scheduled for July 1.

Illinois’ excise tax on wine is more than 4 times higher than the same bottle in New York or California. Buying in Chicago adds extra tax layers, hitting 6 times the taxes of other big cities.

Holiday travel this year is expected to be the second-busiest since AAA started tracking it in 2000. For Illinoisans, it means driving across a state line could avoid the nation’s second-highest gas taxes.