Illinois lawmakers got creative with state budget proposals to overhaul pensions and raise new revenue, many of which would have hit consumers and small businesses hardest. They also failed to intrude on how families choose to educate their children.
By Dylan Sharkey and Charlotte Rotkis | Illinois Policy Institute
Illinois lawmakers passed a $55.2 billion budget with record spending, and some tax hikes and fund abuses, but they had five much-worse options they considered that taxpayers should be thankful failed.
Chicago area residents were the biggest winners because they had the most to lose. The lawmaker ideas that died included:
- Hiking tolls.
- Expanding sales taxes to services.
- Taxing home deliveries and digital ads.
- Expanding pensions for state workers hired since 2010.
- Regulating homeschools and collecting personal info on private school families.
Toll hikes
Lawmakers originally proposed a 50-cent toll road hike, capped at $1 per vehicle per day, a 10% tax on ride-sharing services and electric-vehicle charging fees. Illinoisans already pay more than $6 billion in transportation taxes and fees. Reversing the population drain to attract more people to live and drive in the state would be a simple way to get more revenue rather than asking existing Illinoisans for more.
Service sales tax expansion
Illinoisans avoided a $2.7 billion proposal expanding the state’s sales tax to services. That would have applied Illinois’ 6.25% statewide sales tax to services such as:
- Streaming services including Netflix and Spotify.
- Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft.
- Haircuts.
- Gym memberships.
- Car washes and car repair.
- Plumbing.
- Electrical repairs.
- Landscaping.
Read more here.