Gov. J.B. Pritzker boasted about financial responsibility and sympathy towards working families, but the average family of three can expect to save only $35.52 per month as inflation eats away $90 from that family’s budget.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is boasting about what his Illinois Family Relief Plan means, but a little math shows it means $35.52 a month in savings for the average family at the same time inflation is eating $90 from their budget.
Pritzker’s relief plan started July 1. It suspended the state grocery sales tax until July 2023, delayed the July gas tax hike until January, offered property tax rebates for middle- and low-income families as well as minor, temporary income tax credits.
With a declining state population of 12.67 million, the average Illinois family of three can count on saving roughly $35.52 per month, based on Pritzker’s projection of $1.8 billion in tax relief over about a year. A monthly check of that amount would be quickly eaten by rising state inflation, which took an additional $90 from Illinois households in June and is trending upward.
Pritzker called the package a “new and creative way” to deliver relief. He also boasted about his administration’s fiscal record: “We are doing that because Democrats balanced the budget, eliminated the bill backlog, and the state government is now running a surplus,” he said.
The problem is, his claims are all false about the budget, backlog and surplus. None of those fiscal issues have been fixed.
While Illinois families are seeing their incomes eroded by inflation, state government enjoyed record-high tax revenues topping $57 billion in 2021, according to data from the St. Louis Fed. Under the generous assumption that tax revenue remains constant in 2022, $1.8 billion is chump change, representing a mere 3.16% rebate. No surprise, because the package offers little refuge from the crippling tax burden faced by Illinoisans.
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