“Thirty-two states have a progressive income tax system. And all 32 tax some form of retirement income.”

Washington University Professor of Finance Radha Gopalan said there’s “no silver lining” for local governments by increasing the minimum wage at the same time tax receipts are down. There could be layoffs. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens given the budget deficits that local governments are facing right now.”

There were 195 ventilators in use by COVID-19 patients at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, an increase of six from the day prior and the second straight day the number saw an increase.

In addition to those workers who qualify for traditional unemployment benefits, another 32,587 Illinoisans filed first-time claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, more than triple the number from the week before.

Overall, the 17 states with either no income tax or a flat income tax attracted a net 1.9 million residents and $120 billion in AGI from those states with progressive income tax systems during that time period, Wirepoints reported.

“The report submitted acknowledges where Illinois is today, having just entered Phase 4 of the plan, with considerable progress made toward slowing the spread of COVID-19 and reopening businesses since May 5th,” DCEO spokesperson Lauren Huffman said in a statement Thursday. Download a copy of the report here.

The accommodation and food services sector has been among the hardest hit with job losses since February, with employment down 233,500 (-44%) from February to May.

Another thing progressive income tax states have in common is low growth rates. Four of the five slowest growing states – West Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont and Mississippi – all have progressive income taxes, according to a study by the Illinois Policy Institute. The fifth state on the slow-growth list is Illinois.

“One, there’s a financial problem; two, there’s a jobs problem; three, there’s a trust problem and four, there’s a fairness problem,” Rauschenberger says in a video interview released by the Technology & Manufacturing Association this week.

“You can pass whatever budget you want,” she said. “If the revenues don’t come in the way you’d like them to, then there’s not enough money to go around for all of the priorities that are represented by that budget. So, at the end of the day, we’ll have to see month-to-month what our revenues look like. It’s so completely up in the air.”

“When we asked about unemployment numbers, almost 80 percent of Americans think that unemployment will not return to normal until at least the end of 2021, if ever,” said an analyst for survey sponsor WalletHub.

State Rep. Dan Caulkins, a Republican member of the commission, said they haven’t even met.