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Candidates feel ‘cheated, violated, robbed’ after Pritzker enacts law ending slating

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Elections, Ethics, Girlie man, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, Plum Farm development, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on May 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

Candidates eying ballot access say they feel cheated after Illinois Democrats in less than two days approved and enacted legislation to end the slating of candidates for the November election if they didn’t run in the March primary. They’re eyeing a potential lawsuit.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2412 Friday morning, less than two days after it was approved by the House and concurred by the Senate.

The measure brings about three non-binding ballot referendums for Illinois voters about In vitro fertilization, poll worker safety and property taxes. Another provision effectively ends the slating of candidates for the November election by Democrats or Republicans in races where no candidates for that party ran in the primary.

“It really does make sure that we don’t have backroom deals to put people on the ballot and run as a result of some small group of people in a smoke filled room making the choice,” Pritzker said Thursday before the Senate passed the measure. “So I think, to me, more transparency is better.”

Republicans said it changes the rules for the general election midstream. Democrats argued no one was officially slated, so there’s no harm.

The Illinois State Board of Elections told The Center Square on Friday they have already accepted some slating filings and despite the new law will continue to accept them under the original deadline of June 3. After that, there is the objection process. There could also be litigation from those objecting to the law, or from candidates on the ballot looking to use the law to block opponents seeking to be slated.

More here.

Related: “Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs election bill that would favor Democrats in November,” “(With cheshire grins) Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions”

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Chicago Bears pitch $2 billion for a publicly owned stadium on the lakefront to replace Soldier Field

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Entertainment, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Real Estate, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions on March 11, 2024| 3 Comments »

Soldier Field and the Chicago skyline on April 26, 2023. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

By ROBERT MCCOPPIN |  Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Bears are prepared to provide $2 billion in private funding for a new publicly owned enclosed stadium and park space in the city, the team confirmed Monday.

The lakefront site would replace Soldier Field and increase open space on the museum campus by 20%, and provide a prime location to host the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four and year-round community events, a source familiar with the deal said.

A poll showed that 80% of Chicagoans support a museum campus location, and 77% want to keep the team in the city, the source said.

The poll of 500 registered voters by McGuire Research also found 60% of Chicagoans support using public money for a publicly owned stadium.

As proposed, the new stadium would be in the area of Waldron Drive, just south of the Bears’ current home at Soldier Field. The project would include open plazas, paths and landscaping, with access to the lakefront, and could include saving the Soldier Field colonnade in honor of veterans.

Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren issued a statement that the team is proud to contribute more than $2 billion to build a stadium and improve open space.

“The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region — boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue,” Warren said. “We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.”

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jack Lavin called the proposal “impressive and exciting.”

Read more here.

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Pritzker plans to keep $45 your family should be taking off state taxes

Posted in BOHICA, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes on March 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed reduction of Illinois’ standard income tax exemption would increase taxes for over 11 million individuals. Some state leaders warn the effective tax hike would hit working families hardest.

By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute

Gov. J.B. Pritzker should be letting your family take a $69 state income tax break next year, but instead he wants to keep $45 of it.

That’s because he’s balancing his record $52.7 billion state budget in part by taking away some of the inflation adjustment to which a family of four should be entitled.

He did the same thing last year, taking just shy of $40 from that family.

Pritzker’s recently proposed cut to the state standard income tax exemption in his fiscal year 2025 budget would reduce the deduction for qualifying households from $2,775 per applicable individual to $2,550 for tax year 2024. Those taxes would be due by April 15, 2025, but employers would adjust state income tax withholding this year. Illinois’ fiscal year 2025 runs from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

The governor’s take-back of most of the inflationary exemption increase would effectively act as a tax hike on more than 11 million individuals. For a family of four, the increase in the exemption should let you keep an extra $69 but Pritzker wants that cut by $45.

To qualify for the standard tax exemption, Illinois residents must earn less than $250,000 individually or less than $500,000 as a married couple.

Pritzker predicts the tax hike would generate $93 million in additional revenue in fiscal year 2025. But Senate Minority Leader John Curran warns it would do so on the backs of Illinois’ working families.

“This is going to hit low-income and middle-income families, and it is a tax increase,” Curran told WBEZ. “If the legislature does not go along with this, people will get a greater tax savings with the current existing law than what the governor has proposed.”

Read more here.

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Editorial: Pritzker is right to end the grocery tax. BUT he must make it up to municipalities.

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Commodius Maximus, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes on March 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Chicago Tribune

Grocery sales taxes are looking like toast. Only 13 states still levy them and even some of that number, such as Kansas, are either reducing them or phasing them out. They’re now widely seen as unacceptably regressive, even by sales tax standards. And the political downside of taxing such staples as milk or eggs is significant.

Add in spiraling food costs and grocery taxes look even worse. Prices for food like carrots and butter saw double-digit increases in the aftermath of the pandemic and while there are signs that food companies are no longer attempting such increases, few expect basket prices to fall significantly. Compared with much of Europe, U.S. prices at the supermarket are astronomical. You now can pay as much as $8 for a simple loaf of locally produced, and inaccurately named, “peasant bread” in a Chicago supermarket, we recently discovered.

So we’re sympathetic with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desire, as expressed late last month in his budget address, to nix Illinois’ 1% levy on these staples. It’s not a lot on an individuated basis, of course. But it’s a tax that does not need to be there, especially since its absence might contribute in some small way to motivating people to cook healthy meals at home rather than stopping at the local fast-food outlet.

But there’s a wrinkle here. The revenue from that tax goes directly to municipalities, not state coffers. Pritzker thus has the power to nix the tax without having to worry about a loss of cash flowing into his own budget. And that explains why various municipalities have organized in protest, claiming that the loss of said revenue will result in them having to cut services or hike their own taxes. According to the Illinois Municipal League, the bite out of the budget of such Chicago suburbs as Wheaton would be over $2 million, the likes of Naperville would be hit by over $3 million and Chicago itself could lose as much as $80 million.

In predictive response, Pritzker said localities are free to levy their own grocery taxes to restore this revenue. (That’s the setup in a few other states.) But that scenario, of course, means the municipalities would take the political hit themselves. And they’d risk consumers choosing to shop in the next suburb over where they could buy their yogurt tax-free.

Read more here.

Related: “Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax”

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Editorial: Illinois is stalled, and a miserable tax environment is a major cause.

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Scott Stantis, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on March 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Scott Stantis for the Chicago tribune

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Chicago Tribune

A recent report from Moody’s Analytics on the economic state of Chicago and Illinois is sobering and should give pause to progressive politicians determined to find new ways to raise taxes, particularly on the business community.

Chicago and Illinois lag not only the country as a whole but, worryingly, even most of the Midwest. Chicago’s economy “is showing signs of fatigue,” according to the report last month, which was commissioned by the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

Employment growth lags the country and the region. Since the last quarter of 2019, right before the pandemic struck, Illinois’ nonfarm jobs are up just 0.4% compared with 1.1% in the Midwest and 3.9% nationally.

There are a number of other statistics telling the same story.

The private sector job machine is slowing. The job growth that is being produced is coming from public or near-public sectors like government and health care. Business and professional services — high-paying jobs supporting households that are substantial tax contributors — are shrinking.

The economy in Illinois — and Chicago in particular — is nearly stalled. If this were the case everywhere else in the U.S., we could point to broader economic trends as the culprit. But while growth elsewhere in the U.S. has slowed as expected due to higher interest rates, it’s still chugging along at a noticeably faster clip than here in the nation’s third largest urban region. And the flagship of the Midwest.

Why?

Economists will point to different factors, but one that’s impossible to dispute is the heavy tax burden on business. Illinois ranks 45th of the 50 states in terms of the taxes businesses must shoulder, according to the report. Overall, the state’s average business costs are modestly worse than average — the state’s ranking there is 30th. That’s thanks mainly to lower energy costs than in much of the rest of the U.S. And even that advantage is eroding, the report states.

Read on here.

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Pritzker continues to downplay speculation he’s eyeing the White House

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Elections, Politics on February 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

While Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker continues to downplay the idea he’ll run for president, Republicans interpret the governor’s rhetoric differently.

Pritzker has long denied he’s aiming for the White House. He’s publicly supported incumbent President Joe Biden’s reelection. During an unrelated event Monday, Billy Ocasio, president and CEO of the National Puerto Rican Museum in Chicago, said Pritzker’s the man.

“And he’s accomplished so much, but governor I think the best way for me to address the love of our community with you is the question, and that question is, when are you going to run for president?” Ocasio said.

Pritzker was later asked about those comments.

“I did not, this was their invention, thank you,” Pritzker said.

After last week’s State of the State address, where Pritzker worked in presidential politics condemning the likely Republican nominee former President Donald Trump and praising incumbent President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, reacted.

“Well, I have one question, when is Governor Pritzker going to run for president,” “Is it this year, or is it 2028?”

More here.

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Our perspective: Illinois’ state budget is nearly $13B higher today than it was 6 years ago

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on February 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Back to School Inflation

Pritzker proposes to permanently repeal the 1% state grocery tax. That’s good. The ballooning size of the state budget, not so good.

By Hilary Gowins | Illinois Policy Institute

During his Feb. 21 budget address, Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced a $52.7 billion state budget – up from his first $40 billion budget in 2019. From his address:

“One of my missions as governor is to make life easier for working families. … And even though inflation continues to cool off, folks are still feeling the squeeze every week at the grocery store. So, there’s one more thing we ought to do. For the good of our state’s working families, let’s permanently eliminate the grocery tax! It’s one more regressive tax we just don’t need. If it reduces inflation for families from 4% to 3%, even if it only puts a few hundred bucks back in families’ pockets, it’s the right thing to do.”

We like eliminating the 1% grocery tax, which is a huge burden up and down the income ladder and why few states do it. Proposing $800 million in new taxes on businesses seems … not great.

The state is spending more money than ever, and that makes us very nervous. Lawmakers need to show more restraint. With one-party control across the board, it’s unlikely that will happen this year. Here’s what else you should know about the budget address and Illinois’ economy:

  • The governor offered a pointed critique of the migrant crisis. Pritzker criticized the federal government’s handling of asylum seekers and announced a state response plan, including a request for $181.7 million to cover the costs of supporting asylum seekers arriving in Illinois.
  • The state is investing $350 million for K-12 education … after cutting school scholarship tax credits for poor kids. Pritzker’s budget includes increased investments in K-12 education, following the evidence-based funding model with a $350 million increase, and a more than $30 million increase in support for higher education institutions.
  • Pritzker’s budget includes millions for homelessness. The governor has proposed spending an additional $50 million to address the root causes of housing insecurity, particularly among Black Illinoisans, and continuing efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
  • Our economy is lagging and it’s forcing people out. We’re losing people, yes, and that’s bad. About 364,000 people chose to leave the state since 2020. A main driver of the exodus is the state’s economic climate. Illinois ranked 42nd for job growth in 2023. Virtually every sector of the economy trailed the national average when it came to adding jobs in 2023. Wage growth in Illinois is 43rd in the nation and average hourly wages, which total $33.61 in Illinois, were below the U.S. average of $34.36 in December 2023.
  • Taxes are too high. Doing away with the grocery tax is a great start. Still, taxes are way too high here. Illinois Policy Institute polling showed 45% of Illinoisans identified high taxes as one of the biggest issues facing the state. Illinoisans pay the seventh-highest state and local tax burden in the country and the highest in the Midwest. Illinoisans pay the second-highest property tax rates in the nation, at a rate of 1.95% of their home’s value each year – about double the national median.
  • Debt and overspending are driving costs higher. Illinois’ state pension debt is an estimated $142.2 billion, and current pension payments take up 22% – more than $11 billion – of the state’s budget. Illinois is currently underfunding pensions by $4.9 billion annually. Last year, the state shorted pensions by $4.1 billion despite Pritzker’s “extra” pension payments. This year, the state is spending another record amount by adding $800 million in taxes, mainly on businesses. This is not sustainable – or good for the state and its people.

Read more here.

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Text of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2024 State of the State and budget address

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Ethics, Girlie man, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on February 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

JBP

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his 2024 State of the State and budget address on Feb. 21, 2024 | BlueRoomStream

The Center Square

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his budget address to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday. Read the remarks prepared for delivery as shared by the governor’s office below.

“Speaker Welch, President Harmon, Lieutenant Governor Stratton, my fellow constitutional officers, members of the 103rd General Assembly, Chief Justice Theis and members of the Supreme Court, honored guests, the First Lady of Illinois, my soulmate, MK, and all the people of the great state of Illinois, I am so grateful to be here to deliver my sixth State of the State and Budget address.

I love my job. I love living in Illinois and spending every day working to improve the lives of our residents. In a world seemingly filled with chaos, it’s a privilege to be tasked with bringing stability and progress.

We live in a state that’s filled with people who exude decency and kindness. And if you take the time to listen, Illinoisans will tell you rich and rewarding stories about how we came to be who we are.

Here in Springfield, one of the most interesting guys I know is Ian Hunt, the head of acquisitions at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. And if you ask Ian, he will tell you one of my favorite stories.

Illinois owns an original version of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It’s known as the Everett Copy—one of only five to have been handwritten by Abraham Lincoln himself. It’s named after Edward Everett—a famed orator and a former Massachusetts Senator and Governor.

At Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, Everett was the other guy who spoke. He gave a two-hour speech—that almost no one remembers. When Everett was finished, Abraham Lincoln got up and delivered a two-minute speech that has never been forgotten.

A life lesson for every politician.

Much more here.

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Opinion: Why Illinois’ state budget matters to you

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on February 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Pritzker Budget 4_0220

Illinois will spend over $50 billion this year to operate state government, which is $10 billion more than when J.B. Pritzker first started spending your taxes. Here are some reasons to pay attention to the upcoming state budget.

By Hilary Gowins | Illinois Policy Institute

Most Illinoisans pay about as much attention to the state budget as to the weather in Paraguay: we all lead busy lives with priorities that rightly take precedence over navigating complex government spending plans.

If we at the institute may be so bold, we’d like to encourage our friends and neighbors to take note of a few things this state budget season.

First, yes – Gov. J.B. Pritzker is correct in stating the state’s finances are better off than they were before and during COVID. Ratings agencies such as Moody’s and S&P have reflected that in their upgraded outlook on our state. Some context: The state of Illinois received $8.1 billion in pandemic aid from the federal government. That money is gone now, and Pritzker’s state budget spending has swelled from about $40 billion to over $50 billion since he’s been in office.

Another big windfall for politicians: taxes and other revenue sources brought in $5.5 billion more than expected in 2023. Whether that continues in 2024 is unknown but appears unlikely based on the most recent revenue reports from the Illinois General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. Fortunately, the relief state politicians received from federal COVID funds means they have a chance to get things fixed moving forward.

Second, here’s the thing about the budget – it’s big and bloated and complicated, but it affects all of us in a few big ways. For one, it affects how much we pay in taxes, which are coming due all-too-soon. For another, the choices politicians make in Springfield directly affect things such as your property taxes, parks and police. That’s because the longer the state puts off fixing things such as public pension rules, the longer it takes to fully invest in education and roll back what local leaders have to ask of homeowners in their jurisdictions come property tax season.

Read more here.

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Pritzker ‘smells a rat’ in report on Biden’s memory as congresswoman urges he resign

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Politics on February 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Pritzker Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. | Scott Olson/Getty Images

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

After a special counsel’s report on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents highlighted questions about the president’s mental capacity, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he “smells a rat.”

A special counsel report released Thursday found no wrongdoing by Biden in how he handled classified materials after his terms as vice president ended. But, the report also raised questions about the 81-year-old’s mental acuity.

“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” according to the report. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).”

Biden pushed back on the questions about his mental capacity at a news conference later Thursday, saying his memory is “fine.”

Illinois U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Hindsboro, said in a statement that Pritzker “must ask Biden to resign from office,” and the governor “will disqualify himself from ever holding higher office if he stays silent.” She said “national security is at stake.”

Miller also urged Biden cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president.

“Joe Biden is not competent to remain as Commander-in-Chief, and every day that he remains in office, he puts America’s national security at risk,” Miller said. “If Biden won’t resign, the Cabinet must meet and invoke the 25th Amendment.”

Pritzker, who has stood by Biden’s reelection efforts, said the report’s headline of Biden doing nothing wrong is being buried by comments about Biden’s memory.

“I don’t know what [the special counsel’s] purpose was, I just think that when you’re in the job as special counsel and making decisions about whether to charge somebody or investigating, but offering your personal opinion about somebody’s capabilities, it was unfair,” Pritzker said. “I smell a rat in the comments that were made, but I have to say I just thought it was unnecessary for him to talk about that. I would describe the entire subject matter that he raised as unfair.”

Read more here.

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