Press Release: A Graduated Rate Income Tax Would Help Reduce After-Tax Income Inequality in Illinois
Release: May 22, 2019
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) released a report, How a Graduated Rate Income Tax Would Help Reduce After-Tax Income Inequality in Illinois, which shows that the implementation of a graduated rate income tax can reduce the regressivity of Illinois’ state and local tax system while lessening after-tax income inequality, which imposes lower tax rates on lower levels of income and higher rates on higher levels of income,
Fully Funding the Evidence-Based Formula: Four Scenarios
Release: March 27, 2019
On August 31, 2017, Illinois decision makers finally jettisoned one of the least-equitable K-12 public education funding formulas in the country and replaced it with the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, or EBF. The EBF represents the best practice in school funding because it ties the dollar amount taxpayers invest in schools to those educational practices which research shows actually enhance student achievement over time. David G. Sciarra, Education Law Center, Is School Funding Fair?
Asset transfers to the state pension systems: Six questions to be answered
Release: February 18, 2019
One idea that has been proposed by a number of observers to repay some of Illinois’ pension debt is an “asset transfer.” Under this proposal, the state (or the City of Chicago, which is also facing a large pension debt problem) would make a contribution to the pension systems in the form of a publicly owned property, such as a tollway or lottery, rather than in the form of cash.
Moving Forward: Illinois' Evidence Based School Funding Formula Can Reverse Decades of Inequity Created by the Foundation Formula It Replaced
Release: October 10, 2018
After just one year of implementation, Illinois’ new school funding formula – the Evidence Based Funding for Student Success Act, or EBF – holds out the promise of closing Illinois’ drastic funding and achievement gaps both between schools in property-rich and property-poor districts, as well as between schools in predominantly white communities and schools that serve predominantly students of color.
More of the Same: The FY2019 General Fund Budget Fails to Address Illinois' Long-Term Structural Fiscal Issues
Release: October 2, 2018
The FY2019 Illinois General Fund budget is the first budget agreed upon by both the General Assembly and the Governor in Illinois since FY2015. Among the highlights of the budget is that the state will, fo rthe second year ina row, increase funding for K-12 Education by at least $300 million over prior year levels, as required by teh new Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act.