 Illinoisans should watch their wallets as the Illinois General Assembly prepares
for its Jan. 1-11, 2017, lame-duck session.
Elected officials who no longer have any accountability to taxpayers should not
be allowed to vote on tax hikes. But without action, politicians who were voted
out of office on Nov. 8 could do just that.
House Resolution 1494, filed by state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills,
with chief co-sponsor, state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, brings transparency to
the risk of the lame-duck legislature. It calls on outgoing General Assembly
members to not pass any tax hikes during the lame-duck session. The resolution
argues:
“Significant state policies, especially tax policies, should be set by those
with the most recent ties to the votes of the people; the persons who set the
policy should be persons who have passed the test of accountability to the
voters.”
Separately, Franks has also filed a proposed constitutional amendment, HJRCA 62,
with both McSweeney and state Rep. Mark Batinick as chief co-sponsors. This
proposal would require a three-fifths House and Senate supermajority to raise
taxes during lame-duck sessions.
There’s good reason to set this precedent. Consider the damage done by the
lame-duck General Assembly in 2011, when it passed Illinois’ largest tax hike
just before the end of session.
Illinois’ politicians enacted a record 67 percent personal income tax hike and a
46 percent corporate income tax hike. The tax increase took nearly $32 billion
in additional taxes from taxpayers from 2011 through 2014.
2011 income tax hike revenue
Politicians promised the tax hikes would stabilize the state’s pension crisis,
pay down the state’s unpaid bills, and help the economy.
But four years later, the tax hike accomplished just the opposite: The pension
crisis worsened, Illinois’ bills weren’t paid off, and Illinoisans suffered
under the weakest economic recovery in the nation.
Even worse, Illinoisans left the state in record numbers – to the point where
Illinois actually lost population in 2015.
Illinoisans left in record numbers
The most destructive legacy of the 2011 tax hike has been the acceleration of
out-migration and a further destruction of Illinois’ tax base. In 2015, 105,000
residents on net moved out of Illinois, a record loss. That surpassed 2014’s
out-migration, which itself was a record loss for the state.
Illinois is now losing the equivalent of one resident every five minutes.
[to top of second column] |
 As a result, Illinois’ population actually shrank last year.
Illinois lost over 22,000 people, the only state in the Midwest to
do so.
Illinois’ pension crisis worsened by $30 billion
One of the justifications Illinois’ politicians gave for enacting
the 2011 tax increase was that the money would help pay down a
portion of the state’s pension debt.
To that end, politicians poured 90 percent of the tax hike’s $32
billion in new revenue into the state’s pension funds.
Perversely, Illinois’ pension debt actually worsened by $30 billion,
and the state’s pension funds are now in their poorest shape ever.
In fact, the funds have less than 40 cents on hand for every dollar
they need today to pay out current and future benefits.
Pouring more money into the state’s broken pension system was
clearly not the answer. Until state pensions undergo real reform,
more and more state funding is going to be siphoned away from core
spending – such as on K-12 and higher education – and toward the
pension funds.
Illinois’ unpaid bills remained unpaid
Paying down Illinois’ growing pile of unpaid bills was another
justification for the 2011 tax hikes. In 2011, Illinois had an $8.5
billion bill backlog that Illinois politicians promised would be
paid down.
But by 2014 – long before the current budget stalemate began –
Illinois still had a $7 billion bill backlog.
For all the harm the income tax hike did to Illinois’ taxpayers and
economy, the proceeds barely touched Illinois’ unpaid bills.
Illinois needs structural reforms, not last-minute deals
HR 1494 is right to challenge any tax hikes, especially lame-duck
hikes.
In fact, Springfield politicians need to pass structural reforms
first. Those reforms include freezing local property taxes;
401(k)-style retirement plans and other commonsense pension reforms;
fixing Illinois’ broken workers’ compensation system and
anti-business lawsuit climate; eliminating the state’s broken
education funding formula and creating a money-follows-the-student
model in its place; shrinking bloated administrative staffs at
colleges and universities; and passing term limits.
Until these and other major reforms are signed into law, Illinois
politicians have no right to ask taxpayers for another penny.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article
|
-Lincoln-IL/2831225863)
