The sweeping federal corruption investigation threatens to derail Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive tax hike amendment, which voters will decide Nov. 3.
Illinois’ high levels of corruption damage the state’s economy, costing it $10.6 billion since 2000. States with higher levels of corruption average lower levels of economic growth.
Government corruption is nothing new for Illinoisans. Illinois is the second-most corrupt state in the nation, according to research by the University of Illinois-Chicago. And corruption costs the state economy more than $550 million per year. What is new? Powerful Illinois lawmakers, Chicago aldermen, local mayors and business interests are involved in what appears to be...
Illinoisans deserve a pothole-free future. But are they getting a bang for their gas tax buck? Or is Pritzker’s $45 billion “Rebuild Illinois” program just another vehicle to deliver special favors? A deep dive into the capital plan points toward the latter, showing at least $1.25 billion in pork-barrel projects.
Lawmakers sold 20 new taxes and fees as necessary to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and balance the budget. Instead, taxpayers will be funding dog parks, swimming pools, snowmobile paths, a vacant theater and pickleball courts.
A law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in June allows Chicago to create new transit-based super TIFs, adding more opportunities for city-run slush funds to divert and hoard property-tax dollars.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.