Mandating more reasonable spending growth is the first step in a journey back to solvency for Illinois. The cap provides certainty today for a more responsible state government tomorrow.
A District 211 board member is sitting in on negotiations with the same teachers union that bought her campaign signs during the 2017 District 211 school board election. But much more than yard signs, Illinois' collective bargaining laws for government worker unions stack the deck against local taxpayers.
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...
Spending has consistently outpaced state tax revenues in Illinois for more than a decade. To avoid future tax hikes, Illinois must impose real fiscal discipline on state lawmakers.
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.
Illinoisans have become accustomed to a state economy that lags behind those with better business climates.
Government worker unions can use their members' dues in any number of ways. The most recent federal filings of one of Illinois' largest teachers unions reveal millions of dollars directed disproportionately to Chicago and to political causes with which their members may disagree.
Compared with the nation, Illinois has been a laggard in terms of housing appreciation.
DuPage County billed property tax payers $2.74 billion for 2016; this meant owners of a median-valued home in Naperville worth $388,000 had a $9,000 property tax bill.
A new bill introduced in the General Assembly would prohibit local lawmakers from passing tax hikes without voters' permission.
Growth in state spending per capita outpaced per capita personal income growth by nearly 40 percent in Jackson County.