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Report: Illinoisans pay the nation’s highest combined state, local taxes (We’re Number ONE!?)

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Barrington Education Association, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Fat Bastard, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on March 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois families will pay the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation this year on the median U.S. income. That’s $13,099, which will consume more than 16.5% of their money.

By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois will impose the nation’s highest state and local taxes on residents in 2025, costing each household $13,099 – or more than 16.5% of their annual income – a new WalletHub report found.

Illinois households earning the median U.S. income of $79,004 will face the highest taxes in the nation. Those taxes will be $4,472 higher than the national average, or nearly 52% more.

Illinois is surrounded by states with lower tax rates, a driving factor behind the continued loss of Illinoisans that has only recently been offset by involuntary and other relocation by international migrants.

A move to Iowa, the neighboring state with the next-highest combined state and local tax rate, would save an Illinois family $2,715 on that $79,004 U.S. median household income. A move to Missouri, which boasts the lowest combined tax rate among Illinois’ neighbors, would save the family $5,315.

Over 50% of Illinois voters polled said they would move out of state if given the chance, citing high taxes as the main reason.

Read more here.

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Audit finds many were improperly enrolled in state health care program for noncitizens, while costs were vastly underestimated

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on February 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Gov. JB Pritzker provides an update on the new migrant arrivals, during a news conference in Chicago, Sept. 14, 2022. | Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune

By Jeremy Gorner and Dan Petrella  | Chicago Tribune

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration vastly underestimated the cost and attraction of a pair of controversial programs that provide state-funded health insurance for immigrants who are not citizens, according to an audit report released Wednesday.

The programs have cost the state more than $1.6 billion since the initiative began in late 2020 and also have been plagued by improper enrollments and a failure to move some recipients who were eligible into Medicaid, the traditional health insurance program for the poor that is jointly funded by the federal government, according to the report from Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office.

While widely supported by the Latino caucus in Springfield and other progressive lawmakers, the programs have been a source of tension among the Democrats who control the legislature and briefly derailed budget negotiations two years ago before legislators reached a compromise that gave Pritzker broad latitude to rein in costs.

The audit’s release comes a week after the governor proposed eliminating funding beginning July 1 for the program that insures people younger than 65, a move his administration estimates would save $330 million and help erase a state budget deficit for the coming year it once estimated at more than $3 billion.

The cost overruns were particularly pronounced in the program meant for recipients ages 42 to 64, with the actual expenditure of $485 million through the three years ending June 30, 2023, the period covered by the audit, coming in at nearly four times the initially estimated cost of $126 million, according to the report. During the same period, the actual cost of the program for those 65 and older was $412 million, nearly double the original projection of $224 million.

At a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday to announce another round of medical debt relief for Illinois residents, Pritzker did not answer directly when asked why the estimates his administration used for the programs were so far off. Instead, he said some individuals were at times kept on the programs’ rolls for a period before the state determined they were no longer eligible, either because of a change in immigration or employment status or some other factor.

Read more here.

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Pritzker’s magic beans: Growing a record-setting $55B Illinois budget

Posted in Clown Car, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, Fat Bastard, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, McHenry, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Unions, WTF on February 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker invoked a fairy tale about magic beans and a giant during his annual state of the state and budget address. Too bad he forgot to take an ax to the giant, record-setting budget he has grown by $16.7 billion since taking office. | AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

By Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute

Gov. J.B. Pritzker used his annual State of the State address Feb. 19 to deride those who dare disagree with his policies as “professional bellyachers” pushing “magic bean fixes” to the state’s problems.

Lost on him was the irony that his fiscal year 2026 budget proposal set another spending record at $55.2 billion that depends on its own set of magic beans, as have his past record-setting budgets.

Magic-bean budgeting

The most consequential information presented by Pritzker was within his proposed FY 2026 budget, which did not receive enough attention during his State of the State remarks. Pritzker’s proposed budget increases state spending to an all-time high of $55.2 billion – an increase of $2 billion from last years’ $53.2 billion spending plan.

If enacted, the state’s annual budget will have ballooned by $16.7 billion compared to 2019 levels.

Prior to the address, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget was projecting a $3 billion budget deficit as recently as last November. These projections estimated upcoming FY 2026 revenues would slightly decrease compared to 2025 levels, as Illinois’ economy was expected to slow compared to recent trends. The most recent Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability – a body of the state legislature that tracks revenues – was also reporting mixed revenue performance that seemed to confirm these projections. As of January, General Funds revenues had come in flat on a year-to-date basis when comparing FY 2024 and FY 2025 total resources.

However, Pritzker’s proposed budget is now relying on upward revisions in expected revenues to fund most of his proposed spending increases. The budget proposal now claims the state is expecting revenues to increase by more than $1.5 billion compared to current year revenues. That’s a large increase compared to the revenue reports from earlier this year and projections the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget made just three months ago. If these revenue projections do not materialize, taxpayers may be on the hook for future tax increases that the governor promised to avoid, cuts to state spending or some combination of the two.

Read more here.

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Illinois lawmakers plan to short pensions by $5.1B in July

Posted in Deception, Economy, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on February 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois’ five state-run retirement systems need $16.8 billion in funding for the coming fiscal year, but state lawmakers only plan to pay $11.7 billion. That’s $5.1 billion less than needed for plans already approaching insolvency.

By Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute 

Illinois lawmakers plan to short state pension funds by nearly $5.1 billion compared to what the plans’ own actuaries estimate is needed to truly fund the systems, according to the latest report from the Illinois General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

Illinois’ pension funding law dictates the state must contribute more than $11.7 billion to the five state-run retirement systems in the upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget. But the plans’ actuaries have determined the five systems need more than $16.8 billion next year – and annually for at least the next 20 years – to fully fund the systems and begin paying down the state’s pension debt.

That’s because Illinois’ pension funding is governed by Public Act 88-0593, signed by then-Gov. Jim Edgar in FY 1996 – but also known as the “1995 pension funding law” and “Edgar Ramp.” It created a new 50-year funding policy with a target of 90% funding of the five statewide pension plans by fiscal year 2045.

The state’s contributions would gradually increase – the “ramp” – from 1996-2011. Afterwards contributions would become a set level of payroll in order to reach 90% funding by 2045.

Illinois is 15 years past the “ramp” but funding is still woefully short of what actuaries determine is needed to truly pay down the state’s pension debt. That debt was $143.7 billion in FY 2024.

For every year the state fails to make a full, actuarially determined contribution, the amount of money needed to pay for pensions in future years is expected to increase.  Since fiscal year 2023 – the first year that COGFA reported actuarially determined contribution amounts – the amount the state needs to pay every year has increased by more than $1.9 billion.

Read more here.

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Pritzker criticizes Trump’s courting of tech CEOs, lack of communication

Posted in Ethics, Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By Ben Szalinski | Capitol News Illinois

CHICAGO — A wave of executive orders and bold pronouncements of his vision for the country highlighted President Donald Trump’s first day back in the White House Monday.

In Illinois, Trump’s ascension back to power kicked off new frustrations for Gov. JB Pritzker, who ripped into the new president at an unrelated news conference Tuesday for a lack of communication with the states, executive actions, and who he chose to surround himself with at inaugural events.

Pritzker, whose net worth is estimated at $3.7 billion by Forbes, is one of the 1,000 wealthiest people in the world. As one of the richest politicians in U.S. history, he largely self-funded his two campaigns for governor. But on Tuesday, he raised concerns about the prominent appearance of several large tech company CEOs at Trump’s inauguration.

Read more here.

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Illinois badly needs disruption. Trump will deliver some, but most must come from everyday Illinoisans

Posted in 220, 300, Clown Car, ComEd Four, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Fat Bastard, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Perjury, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Saint Anne Parish School, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, Wirepoints on January 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints

Love Trump or hate him, he won on an agenda to disrupt the country’s broken border, the economy, and how Washington itself works. But even as many Trump detractors soften their stance against him, agreeing that too much has gone too far in America, Illinois is going the other way. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and leaders of the Democratic party are working hard to Trump-proof Illinois. They, their public sector union allies and a friendly media don’t want any disruption of their ironclad control over Illinois, never mind the continuing decline of the state.

Now, we’re not arguing for Trump to come and directly target Illinois for disruption, though we’ll benefit from much of what the president does at the federal level. Disruption at the border, great. We’ll happily accept the relief. Disruption of the massive, distortionary green energy subsidies, also great. Illinoisans’ energy costs have been jumping of late. Disruption of the rules and actions that limit free speech and force feed DEI on our institutions. Absolutely. Good riddance to the cancel culture of the past few years.

But the real disruption Illinois needs is local and Illinois-specific. We don’t need Trump for that. We don’t need the feds. We don’t need outsiders. What we need is for us to do it ourselves. Ordinary Illinoisans disrupting what’s wrong with our state. Dismantling the laws that now make Illinois an extreme outlier on the many fiscal, economic and demographic issues that matter most.

That disruption starts with clawing back the extreme powers that state legislators have given the public sector unions over the last few decades – in exchange for support at the ballot box. There’s perhaps no other state in the country where the politicians and the public unions are more intertwined than Illinois. Take Chicago, where the unions and the politicians have become one and the same: Brandon Johnson is a CTU boss, the head of Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago mayor all in one.

It’s gotten so bad that Illinoisans are now subservient to their public servants.

How about disruption at Illinois’ failed schools, where 1.1 million of the state’s public school children can’t read at grade level? We’ve written ad nauseam about how Illinois’ education system gave up long ago on ensuring kids learn how to read and do math. It’s not an exaggeration, as we wrote recently in Fresh data: Illinois officials graduate record 88% of students despite tragic literacy, numeracy rates.

The disruption must be 100% universal school choice, like what’s happening all around Illinois. Universal choice means any family – of any race and any means – that wants to send their kid to a school of their choice can access an $8,000-$10,000 voucher or an education savings account. Imagine a single mom in Decatur being able to take her kid out of the Decatur Public Schools, where just 10% of all kids read at grade level, and to try instead a private school obsessed with reading and learning.

Read more here.

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After 10 years, will Illinois implement a millionaires’ tax?

Posted in Clown Car, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Economy, Fat Bastard, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Taxes, Unions on January 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Former Gov. Pat Quinn has been pushing for a 3% surcharge on incomes above $1 million since 2014. A decade later, he’s still trying to make it a reality. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

By Davis Giangiulio | Chicago Sun*Times

In 2024, former Gov. Pat Quinn found himself with a case of déjà vu.

He was campaigning across Illinois, urging voters to approve a ballot referendum recommending a 3% surcharge on incomes above $1 million.

It was all so familiar to Quinn, and with good reason: He’d championed an advisory referendum for the exact same proposal a decade earlier. And though it was supported by voters back then, the Legislature did nothing.

Now, Quinn is back at square one.

Just like 10 years ago, Illinois voters in November supported a referendum recommending that millionaires pay a 3% income tax surcharge. Both referendums garnered similar support — over 60%. Now, supporters hope the second time’s the charm and the General Assembly will act.

“Point them to the election returns,” Quinn said about his argument to legislators, who will again determine the proposal’s future. “We’ve had two referendums, separated by a decade, clearly indicating what the voters want.”

Despite support at the polls, turning the nonbinding referendum into law isn’t easy. State lawmakers would have to turn it into a constitutional amendment, sending it back to the voters as a binding ballot measure.

A vote on amending the Illinois Constitution, similar to the fight in 2020 over the graduated income tax amendment, would likely attract more interest than an advisory referendum. A high-profile campaign could yield a result that contradicts those of the referendums.

Still, supporters are working to get Springfield to take action and put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026.

Gov. JB Pritzker at a 2019 news conference outlines his plan to replace the Illinois flat-rate income tax with a graduated structure. Pritzker’s push for a constitutional amendment for his proposal overshadowed the millionaire surcharge. | AP photos

The failed 2014 effort

Quinn said he proposed the 3% surcharge on millionaires to help Illinois boost education spending while also allowing schools to rely less on local property taxes for funding.

After the advisory referendum passed in 2014 with nearly 64% support, then-House Speaker Mike Madigan’s efforts to turn the proposal into a constitutional amendment in 2015 and 2016 failed due to insufficient support from his own Democratic caucus.

Then, Democrats lost their House supermajority — when one party controls at least three-fifths of a legislative chamber, which also is the threshold to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot — in 2016, dooming its future.

In 2018, Gov. JB Pritzker won the governor’s mansion and Democrats returned with supermajorities in both legislative chambers. But Pritzker campaigned on a different tax proposal: moving the state from a flat tax to a graduated one, where the rate progressively increases as income rises. That tax proposal got on the 2020 ballot.

The campaign for the graduated income tax constitutional amendment generated more than $100 million in spending, roughly coming equally from supporters and opponents. Billionaires Pritzker (in support) and Kenneth Griffin (in opposition) alone shouldered a majority of that spending.

Voters rejected it by 6 percentage points.

Read more here.

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Gov. Pritzker was and remains part of the coverup of Biden’s mental decline

Posted in Deception, Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The Chicago Way, Uncategorized on December 23, 2024| 1 Comment »

“This is the biggest scandal in America. And the level and volume of people who dedicated themselves to lying to everyone at home about this man’s condition for four-straight years up through this summer is breathtaking.” 

-Scott Jennings, CNN

By: Mark Glennon*

National stories abound this week about the concerted effort by media, the White House and Democratic officials lying to cover up Pres. Biden’s impaired mental capacity. Much of the commentary was sparked by a detailed Wall Street Journal report based on fifty interviews of people in or close to the White House. You can read it  here and see that Jennings’ comment above is no exaggeration. The coverup was there from the start, even while Biden was Obama’s vice president.

High among the guilty is one who remained steadfast and outspoken throughout Biden’s term in denying Biden’s impairment and claiming firsthand knowledge that Biden was fine. That’s Gov. JB Pritzker, who served as a Biden proxy during his candidacy.

Among comments Pritzker made:

“I’ve been with the President of the United States many times,” Pritzker said in February. “He is on the ball. The man knows more than most of us have forgotten.”

“Of course,” answered Pritzker when asked in July if Biden was “physically and mentally capable” of serving a second term.”

Pritzker resorted to smearing the special prosecutor who declined to prosecute Biden in part because of his mental condition, saying that a jury would see him as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” That was Robert Hur, an exceptionally well respected career prosecutor who reviewed the evidence and found that Biden had illegally taken possession of classified documents but was too frail to prosecute. “I smell a rat,” said Pritzker after Hur released his report, which included Hur’s conclusions about Biden’s conditions based on a deposition of Biden. “It was extremely unfair,” Pritzker said, for a Trump appointee, originally to the Department of Justice, to offer his own opinions about the mental acuity or age of the president of the United States.” In truth, there’s clearly nothing unfair about a prosecutor citing his reasons for believing that a jury would have found somebody too infirm to convict.

Pritzker even sought to make Biden’s age an asset, arguing that Biden had made age his “friend” and used his years to become “a gem of a human.” He went on: “I’ve thought a lot about why people care so much about age in this coming election, and I want to talk to you about it. We need to stop dismissing concerns about the physical age of a candidate, especially when that concern comes from a young person. Instead, what people are afraid of is the age of the candidates’ ideas,” he said.

Read more here.

*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

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Settlement with ABC and Stephanopoulos indicates Trump has an actionable defamation claim against Gov. Pritzker – Wirepoints Quickpoint

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Fat Bastard, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Wirepoints on December 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Gov. JB Pritzker and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

By: Mark Glennon* | Wirepoints

Gov. JB Pritzker has said repeatedly that Donald Trump is an “adjudicated rapist.” That’s false, and those statements are not meaningfully different than the basis of a defamation claim made by Trump, which has now been settled in his favor.

ABC News and its program host, George Stephanopoulos, on Saturday settled a defamation suit brought by Donald Trump. Under the terms of the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Trump and pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees. Additionally, ABC and Stephanopoulos issued statements of “regret” about comments made earlier this year that prompted Trump to file the defamation lawsuit.

The statements by Stephanopoulos that were the subject of the defamation action are substantially identical to a claim repeatedly made by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Specifically, Stephanopoulos said several times during an interview broadcast in March that Trump was found “liable for rape.” That was in reference to a civil case brought by E. Jean Carrol over an assault by Trump she alleged occurred in 1995 or 1996. However, the court in that 2023 case found Trump liable for sexual abuse, not rape. The jury expressly rejected a rape allegation, as shown in its written findings here.

Read more here.

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Aunt Blabby, Big Red, Building Department, Clown Car, Dumb and Dumber, Elections, Fat Bastard, Financial Reports, Legal Expenses, Minutes, One Barrington Hills, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer on December 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. A copy of their agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

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