Fixing what ails the state requires Illinoisans of all political stripes to be honest about how they got here.

Even after a 32 percent income tax hike, the Illinois General Assembly passed a state budget in 2017 that will generate an estimated $1.5 billion deficit in fiscal year 2018. That deficit is projected to grow to $2.15 billion in fiscal year 2019, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, or GOMB. The...

A number of state and local lawmakers in Illinois practice property tax appeals litigation. But a pair of bills recently filed in the General Assembly would end their ability to benefit at the expense of taxpayers.

An order currently under consideration by Chicago City Council challenges the assessments of seven properties, four of which have been the subject of property tax appeals by the law firms of Chicago Alderman Ed Burke or Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Illinois will not diverge from its path of poor growth until lawmakers realize the failures of recent tax hikes.

Alderman Ricardo Munoz's proposal highlights seven expensive properties in or around the Loop that aldermen contend were underassessed, shifting the property tax burden to other property owners.