The status quo isn’t working for Illinois; the state needs serious reforms to get its spending under control, pay down its debt, and rein in the taxes that are driving its people across state lines.

The Illinois Senate’s proposed budget plan would raise the personal income tax rate to at least 4.95 percent with no real reforms to address the state’s skyrocketing debt and unsustainable spending. This proposal comes despite Illinois’ loss of $14 billion in annual income and hundreds of thousands of people in the wake of the 2011 income tax hike.

Standard & Poor’s sent Chicago Public Schools’ credit rating deeper into junk territory in the wake of the new $9.5 billion teachers’ contract. The ratings firm said the new contract will make the district’s financial crisis worse.

Illinois’ unpaid bills could reach new highs by summer 2017.