Capitol Fax

Pritzker capital plan would double Illinois gas tax, hike vehicle registration fees, create new taxes on Uber and Netflix

By Austin Berg
05/17/2019
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office is using a major capital bill as a vehicle to grease lawmakers for a progressive income tax amendment. But the tax hikes to pay for it would make Illinoisans’ gas tax burden the second highest in the nation.

TAGS: alcohol tax, amusement tax, capital project, fair tax, gas tax, graduated income tax, income tax, JB Pritzker, Lyft, Netflix, progressive income tax, rideshare, satellite tax, streaming tax, Uber, vehicle registration

Pritzker price tag: Candidate’s spending promises require doubling state income tax

By Adam Schuster, Orphe Divounguy, Bryce Hill
10/15/2018
While J.B. Pritzker has not released a detailed tax plan of his own, reasonable cost estimates suggest the tax hike required to pay for the candidate’s spending promises would require doubling Illinois’ state income tax rate and cost the state an estimated 132,000 jobs and $31.3 billion in forgone GDP.

Waste Watch: Nearly $100M of waste in Illinois state and local government

By Adam Schuster, Alec Mena, Travis Nix
10/08/2018
Illinois taxpayers are fed up and overtaxed. Residents have little faith that their governments are spending their tax dollars well – and for good reason. The state’s most recent spending plan is out of balance by as much as $1.5 billion, and includes $54.2 million in wasteful spending and $27 million in pork-barrel spending. The...

AFSCME uses fake ‘compromise’ to set stage for state worker strike

By Mailee Smith
01/13/2017
AFSCME – the state’s largest government-worker union – spent two years pushing for contract provisions that would cost state taxpayers billions. Now that the union has lost before the state labor board, it has issued a “framework” for compromise. But that “framework” is merely a publicity stunt to make the union appear reasonable while union leaders threaten a strike to obtain contract provisions that burden state taxpayers.

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, labor, unions