By Bryant Jackson-Green
05/28/2014
Illinois lawmakers have voted down a proposal that would have imposed a $0.01 per-ounce tax on soft drinks sold in the state of Illinois. According to the Illinois Manufacturers Association, the tax would have added $2.88 to the cost of a case of soft drinks. It would also have added to the already-heavy regulatory burden...
The Illinois Constitution is clear: the Illinois General Assembly’s spending in any fiscal year “shall not exceed the funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.” The General Assembly has officially estimated how much money the state will have available in fiscal year 2015: about $34 billion. Yet the spending proposed...
By Michael Lucci
05/19/2014
Policymakers in Illinois spent this spring debating whether the state should adopt a progressive tax scheme. At one point, there were as many as seven different tax structures being considered in Illinois. Supporters of the progressive tax fought for an amendment to the Illinois Constitution to allow such a change. Their efforts were rejected, and,...
By Brian Costin
05/16/2014
As the Illinois General Assembly is nearing a vote on Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to extend the income tax hike, which will cost the average taxpayer about $1,100 per year, a WGN-TV investigation revealed one of Quinn’s former top staffers is the beneficiary of a $117,000 pension error. Brown Hodge, former Deputy Chief of Staff...
By Michael Lucci
05/13/2014
Illinois’ 2011 income tax hike helped put the brakes on the state’s private-sector jobs recovery. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois’ monthly job creation has slowed down since the 2011 tax hike. Meanwhile, the rest of the country has accelerated its jobs growth. The Great Recession began in January 2008, and...
By Benjamin VanMetre
05/05/2014
In 2011, the Illinois General Assembly passed a record income tax hike. The higher rates are legally required to partially sunset in 2015. That means all Illinois taxpayers are less than one year away from tax relief. But Quinn is back for more. He wants to increase taxes again on Illinois’ middle-class residents instead of...
By Michael Lucci
04/30/2014
Gallup released a stunning poll that shows 50 percent of Illinoisans want to leave the state, the highest percentage of any state nationally. This comes a week after Illinois’ worst-in-the nation performance in a Gallup poll that showed one in four Illinoisans consider Illinois to be the worst possible place to live. If Illinois government...
By Brian Costin
04/30/2014
A ballot measure that would limit state legislators to eight years in office cleared a major hurdle today. In a press conference, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner announced that the group, The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, is submitting more than 590,000 petition signatures in support of a term limits constitutional initiative. The...
For months Gov. Pat Quinn has campaigned on the need to make permanent the temporary tax hike the Illinois General Assembly passed in 2011. Under state law, the majority of the 2011 tax increase will sunset in January 2015. Quinn wants to reverse that. He claims the state is out of money and there is...
By Donovan Griffith
04/25/2014
1. A supermajority means the rules do not apply When it comes to running a state, there is a long list of rules and parliamentary procedures the government must abide by during its everyday operations. These rules govern everything from how votes are taken to how bills are read and are in place to protect...
