Cutting Taxes for the Middle Class and Shrinking the Deficit: Moving to a Graduated State Income Tax in Illinois
Release: April 30, 2018
This report makes the case for a graduated rate state income tax in Illinois, and illustrates two possible rate structures that would accomplish each of three major objectives:
Three Problems With Gov. Rauner’s FY2019 Pension And Retirement Proposals
Release: February 16, 2018
This week, Gov. Bruce Rauner gave his fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget address, revealing his revenue and expenditure proposals for the upcoming year. The governor’s proposal relies on $1.5 billion in cost reductions to balance the budget, including:
Governor Rauner's FY2019 General Fund Budget Proposal Is a Major Setback For Public Education
Release: February 15, 2018
Governor Bruce Rauner introduced his proposed fiscal year 2019 budget on February 14. But despite promising to help close the shortfall from adequate resources identified by the new Evidence-Based Model for school funding, the governor's budget actually cuts available resources for K-12 classrooms by an inflation-adjusted $547 million. This cut frustrates the core purpose of the Evidence-Based Model, which he signed into law just last year: To increase the resources available to Illinois public schools to the levels that evidence shows they need in order to succeed.
Cook County's Budget: Long-Term Imbalance Leads to New Pain for Vulnerable Residents
Release: November 14, 2017
On October 11, 2017, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages. The FY2018 budget presented by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle had relied on the sweetened beverage tax to cover just over $200 million of the county's projected expenditures on services.
Pension Changes in the FY2018 Budget: Short-Term Savings and Long-Term Costs
Release: October 10, 2017
The changes made to Illinois public pension systems in Public Act (PA) 100-0023 (introduced as Senate Bill 42), the Budget Implementation Act, or BIMP, passed on July 6, 2017, and include two primary elements. First, the BIMP creates a new Tier 3 level of benefits for public sector workers. Second, the BIMP permits the state to smooth out the fiscal impact of the actuarial reduction in the assumed rate of return generated by the state’s five pension systems.