Prairie State Wire

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is about to sign his fifth budget into law. It’s “balanced,” committed to “fiscal responsibility” and contains “transformative investments,” he says. It’s the same language we’ve heard from the governor over the last four years. 

But the real measure of success isn’t what the governor says it is, but rather how the state’s residents are faring under his leadership. And that, by most measures, has been a failure.

Fewer people are employed today than when Pritzker took office. Illinois’ economic growth is stagnant, at best. Tax burdens are higher than ever. And residents are fleeing in record numbers.

In the end, most ordinary Illinoisans don’t really care about state budgets, much less know anything about them. What they really care about is jobs and opportunity, tax relief and overall quality of life.

Unfortunately, the $50.6 billion budget – with its overspending, financial gimmicks and lack of reform or tax relief – is likely to make all those issues worse in Illinois, not better.

Jobs

Take the state’s jobs climate. Illinois actually has 70,000 fewer people employed today than it did when Pritzker took office back in January 2019. Compare that to other big states like Texas and Florida, which have employed 1.1 million and 850,000 more people, respectively, since 2019, and it’s easy to see how far behind Illinois has fallen.

It’s no surprise, then, that Illinois continues to have one of the worst unemployment rates in the nation. At 4.2 percent in April, Illinois’ rate was the 5th-highest overall and far worse than any of its neighbors. 

Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri all have rates of around 3 percent or less. If Illinois had Missouri’s unemployment rate of 2.5 percent, 112,000 more Illinoisans would be employed today – equivalent to the entire population of Peoria.

Economy

Illinois’ economy has also stagnated since Pritzker took office. Real growth in GDP was only 3.2 percent from the 1st quarter of 2019 through the 4th quarter of 2022 – the 10th-worst increase in the nation.

In contrast, Georgia’s growth rate has been 2.5 times larger than Illinois. Texas’ was three times larger. And Florida’s rate, which has grown 13.2 percent, was four times larger.

Less economic growth means less opportunity for individuals. And so does corporate flight. The likes of Tyson and Caterpillar and Boeing and Citadel and Walmart leaving Illinois mean fewer jobs and a weaker tax base.

Taxes

Illinoisans are still paying some of the nation’s highest property taxes more than four years into Pritzker’s tenure despite his 2020 promise of reforms. 

Illinois homeowners pay, depending on who you ask, the highest or 2nd-highest property taxes in the nation, competing only with New Jersey. The Tax Foundation puts Illinois’ average tax rate at 2.08 percent – 2nd-highest for 2021.

Illinoisans also pay the 2nd-highest gas taxes in the nation thanks to Gov. Pritzker’s doubling of the state’s motor fuel tax back in 2019 and his indexing of the gas tax to inflation.

And when all state and local taxes are combined, Illinoisans now pay the nation’ 7th-highest overall tax burden. That’s up from 10th-highest in 2019 when Pritzker took office.

Out-migration

The above issues have driven more and more Illinoisans out of the state. In 2022 alone, Illinois’ population declined by over 104,000 residents. Only New York and California experienced a greater loss of people.

Add to that the 100,000-plus decline in 2021 and Illinois has experienced a net population loss of over 230,000 people since 2020.

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Ignore all the backslapping and self-congratulations from state politicians.

They deserve no such praise until they actually tackle the problems that make Illinois such an extreme outlier on the issues that matter to Illinoisans.