Comment: This new study reflects the July 2017 income tax increase in Illinois, which further impaired Illinois’ rankings. A recent Tax Foundation study, for example, was based on 2016 tax rates.

“My hours went from 30 to 20 a week,” said one Whole Foods employee in Illinois. Workers interviewed for this story were reluctant to speak on the record for fear of retaliation.

The bipartisan Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability expects the state to bring in less money than what the governor’s office has projected, but both anticipate an economic slowdown in the future.

Pritzker has called this an “MCO assessment” – a tax on managed care organizations. That’s true, but not the whole story.

“If Illinois is going to embrace another public-pension-contribution holiday, shouldn’t the public be informed of what the financial consequences will be?”