As Illinois teeters on the edge of a junk credit rating, one key policymaker is floating bankruptcy as a solution.

State lawmakers in 2019 passed a progressive income tax amendment at the behest of Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Now that coronavirus has ravaged the state’s small business community, they should withdraw the amendment.

Due to its poor financial health and lagging economy, Illinois carries unique economic and fiscal risks from a prolonged market downturn or recession. The state must act now to mitigate harm from COVID-19.

Visions of the community’s future no longer bring comfort. Instead, they inspire crippling fear.

Property taxes in Illinois are nearly double the national average. Until state lawmakers trim down thousands of local governments and pursue pension reform, those bills wills remain high.

There’s no doubt: the county taxed soda more, so people bought less of it. It’s a simple lesson. So why doesn’t Springfield get it?

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...