By reducing administrative bloat in Illinois school districts, the bill would enable property tax relief while ensuring education dollars reach students and classrooms first, rather than bureaucrats.

A bill in the Illinois House would empower voters to reform the funding priorities of their local school districts.

Not only would a progressive income tax hike end up taking more money directly from all taxpayers’ pockets, but it would also have negative economic effects on jobs growth, after-tax income adjusted for cost of living, and overall economic output.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker inherited a $2.8 billion budget deficit the moment he stepped into office. Next year, that deficit is projected to be $3.4 billion1. It’s the same story every budget season. But Illinois’ budget crises could be a thing of the past if the state would adopt pension reform, right-size its union contracts and...

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.

Duplicative school districts and an excess of publicly funded six-figure salaries have educated Norridge-Harwood Heights taxpayers on the benefits of consolidation.

While Quad Cities geography connects East Moline and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Illinois’ abundance of school districts means their administrative environments are worlds apart. By consolidating duplicative administrative bodies, East Moline could generate taxpayer savings.