Well, they did it despite our urging to the contrary. Just hours before a new General Assembly took office, Illinois legislators, at the urging of Governor Pat Quinn, narrowly approved a massive 67% increase in the personal income tax and a 46% increase in the state's corporate income tax. The tax hikes will take $6.8 billion from Illinois taxpayers to help fill up state coffers and finance $12 billion in borrowing to close an expected $15 billion budget gap.
Proponents claim that the tax hikes are necessary and temporary to address the state's budget crisis.
But notably absent from the plan was any real reduction in any state government spending. Without a reduction in spending from state programs or pension obligations, there is nothing to reduce the pressures on the budget that lead to the tax hikes. Worse, the tax hikes are so large and broad that they could seriously harm the economic recovery in Illinois by driving companies and jobs out of the state. The Illinois Policy Institute estimates that the tax hikes will cost at least 100,000 jobs. Perhaps that is why the Chicago Tribune's editorial assessing the tax hikes is entitled, "Goodbye, jobs."
While I disagree with the result, it is the result and I have to live with it. I just hope Illinoisans understand what has happened and realize the consequences of these tax hikes by the time of the next election. As I stated in NTU's press release on the subject, "Illinoisans already have tobear the 14th-highest state and local tax burden per capita in thenation. Itmakes no sense to pile more onto such a heavy load, especially in a downeconomy. Unless Governor Quinn and the State Legislature agree to reverse theirdestructive tax policies and significantly reduce state spending, residents arein for even tougher times ahead."