New report has bleak economic outlook for Illinois
Send a link to a friend
[May 13, 2021]
By Kevin Bessler
(The Center Square) – A ranking of each
state’s competitiveness and economic outlook places Illinois near the
bottom.
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Rich States, Poor States”
report ranked Illinois 47th in the country based on 15 factors, such as
income tax rates, property tax burden and debt service as a share of tax
revenue.
“Generally speaking, states that spend less, especially on income
transfer programs, and states that tax less experience higher growth
rates than states that tax and spend more,” according to the report.
Report co-author Arthur Laffer, former economic advisor to President
Ronald Reagan, said states that favor low taxes and spending policies
came out on top of the list.
“It is just common sense things,” Laffer said. “People don’t work to pay
taxes. People work to get what they can after taxes. Those incentives
are very powerful.”
Co-author Stephen Moore, former economic advisor to former President
Donald Trump, said governors who imposed economic restrictions during
the pandemic, like J.B. Pritzker, damaged their state’s economies.
“We have shown pretty conclusively that the lockdowns were a failure and
they did not really contain the virus,” Moore said. “They were
ineffective, but what they did do is cause high, high unemployment.”
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
The ALEC ranking mirrors the partisan divide in the
country, with red states that have lower income taxes and capped
spending faring the best. At the other end of the spectrum are blue
states such as Illinois and New York.
The population shift in the country is another
factor. Moore pointed to Illinois losing a congressional seat after
the latest census count.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/13/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
“People do leave these places and they are moving away from these
states, like Illinois, New York and California,” Moore said. “It’s a
tragedy because I’m sitting in Chicago right now and it’s one of the
world’s great cities and it is just being ruined by bad policies.”
Utah topped the rankings for the 14th year in a row, followed by
Florida and Oklahoma.
“Utah has an incredibly strong track record of pro-taxpayer reforms
in recent years, including the adoption of a flat personal income
tax rate, pension reform for its previously endangered system and
the state’s innovative approach to property tax reform,” ALEC chief
economist and co-author Jonathan Williams said. |