Prairie State Wire

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year will not address the problems that put the state at the bottom of fiscal health rankings, according to a policy group.

Cutting services that residents need and increasing taxes are not the steps to take to fix the state’s financial woes, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. The organization likens those steps to a doctor offering a choice between amputation or bloodletting to fix a patient’s broken leg. Those choices would not fix the problem, just make it worse.  

Last week the organization published a budget plan, called Illinois Forward, which aims to put the state “on solid ground for the first time in a generation,” the organization says in a news release.  The plan ensures that by 2025, the state could pay down backlogs of bills owed, and then put extra funds into core services, a rainy day fund, or a tax cut for citizens.        

“Despite two historic income tax hikes that have taken billions of dollars out of family budgets, Illinois has not had a balanced budget since 2001, its finances have worsened dramatically, and the state is actually spending less on services for the poor and disadvantaged,” said Adam Schuster, director of budget and tax research at the Illinois Policy Institute. “History shows Pritzker’s $3.7 billion progressive income tax hike would not only fail to solve the state’s biggest problems, it would make them worse.”  

“Illinois Forward” would achieve those things by enacting specific reforms:

• A pension reform amendment to the state constitution. No retiree would see the size of their current check decrease and no current worker would lose core benefits. It would  replace the  guaranteed 3 percent compounding post-retirement raise with a true cost-of-living adjustment tied to inflation. This would save $8.9 billion in five years and $50 billion in 25 years.
• Realignment of pensions, which includes accountability for negotiating compensation for school and university employees. This would save $8.7 billion over five years, says the Illinois Policy Institute.
• Investment in K-12 education. By reducing administrative bloat at the district level and allowing state aid to grow more slowly, but still increasing resource for classrooms. The state could see a savings of $3.6 billion over five years.

To read the full plan, “Illinois Forward: A five-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief,” visit illin.is/ILforward.