Illinois Taxpayers Need a Responsible Budget This Year
Illinois is facing an ongoing budget crisis and residents want spending reforms and a responsible budget.
The state needs government consolidation, spending, and pension reforms, not a progressive income tax that will raise tax rates on the majority of taxpayers yet again.
A recent story in Illinois Policy discusses Illinois’ “persistent crisis-like budget environment” which has led to the state having the worst credit rating in the nation and four straight years of population loss.
It’s time for real solutions and a responsible budget. It’s not too late to save our state.
Here is the original story as reported by Illinois Policy:
CAP SPENDING NOW: ILLINOIS TAXPAYERS NEED A RESPONSIBLE BUDGET THIS YEAR
Lawmakers should voluntarily adopt a spending cap to give taxpayers the certainty they deserve.
Illinois taxpayers desperately need a full-year, balanced budget with no new taxes. While the history of election-year budgets shows that lawmakers prefer to kick the can on tough choices, half measures and phony budgets will only make matters worse.
Lawmakers should end the bickering about a revenue estimate for next year’s budget and instead adopt a “magic number” based on the formula outlined in a proposed constitutional amendment that caps state spending growth to what taxpayers can afford – the growth in the state’s economy. The magic number this year? $36.9 billion.
Voluntarily adopting this spending cap would help remedy the state’s “crisis-like” budget environment, stem chronic overspending and eventually ease the crushing tax burden imposed on residents.
Near-junk credit rating
Illinois already has the worst credit rating of any state in the nation, with credit ratings agencies assigning much of the blame to Illinois’ “persistent crisis-like budget environment.”
Moody’s Investors Service gives Illinois a negative outlook on its credit, meaning more troubling financial decisions from elected officials could cause the state’s bond rating to drop even further – into junk status.
Ultimately, a bad credit rating means higher borrowing costs and therefore higher future taxes on the residents of the state.
This story originally appeared in Illinois Policy on May 4, 2018, and was written by Adam Schuster
“I’M GOING TO SPRINGFIELD TO DEFEND OUR HOMES, REPRESENT THE PEOPLE’S INTERESTS AND STOP THE RAISING OF PROPERTY TAXES.”
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