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.

A new report would have Illinoisans believe that a progressive income tax means tax cuts and economic growth. Illinois lawmakers’ tax-and-spend tendencies and evidence from all 50 states say otherwise.

As examples of the type of progressive tax plan he would like to see in Illinois, J.B. Pritzker pointed to other Midwestern states. But imposing those income tax rates would raise taxes on the median Illinois family.

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...

The Land of Lincoln's addiction to regressive "sin taxes" burns more and more of Illinoisans' incomes.

When it comes to taxes, everyone works for the government. Illinoisans worked 120 days – from Jan. 1 until April 30 – to pay the taxes they owe to federal, state and local governments.