If you haven’t read the Better Government Association’s recent report on project selection under Illinois’ celebrated “Rebuild Illinois” spending plan, do so. It’s sad enough, but much worse when you consider how the program is being paid for: The poor and working class are being hit hardest.
Rebuild Illinois is a multi-year spending program passed in 2019 that promised to help advance Illinois into the 21st Century with $45 billion in infrastructure improvements like roads, bridges, rail improvements and other public works projects. The BGA report focused mostly on pet political programs favored by former House Speaker Michael Madigan for the district he represented, such as $98 million for reducing noise from freight train brakes in the area.
However, the bigger story is the entire process by which projects were selected for funding, and that story is hardly limited to Madigan. The process was “largely shrouded in secrecy,” as the BGA described, and “individual powerbrokers in state government were allowed to move many of their favored projects — traditionally called pork — to the top of the list without the normal bureaucratic scrutiny and screening usually given to massive public works projects.” From the BGA’s report:
- A subset of $4 billion in “Leadership Additions to Rebuild Illinois” — like the noise-abatement project — were tacked on with little public scrutiny by the Democratic majority leaders in the General Assembly who control both houses, or by Gov. J.B. Pritzker himself.
- Of the $4 billion, $2 billion went for 18 projects each labeled a “Governor’s Office Addition,” the BGA found, while $368 million were labeled “House Democrat Leadership Addition,” and $326 million were labeled “Senate Democrat Leadership Addition.” The remaining $1.2 billion were identified only as “leadership additions.” And that $4 billion came in addition to “member initiatives” that were part of the Rebuild Illinois plan in which $600 million was set aside for state senators and representatives for projects in their districts.
But nowhere does the term “leadership additions” appear in the legislation Pritzker signed into law. Only after the BGA requested project records — two years later — was the existence of the “leadership additions” revealed and the list of projects specified.
“Asked how specific projects wound up as part of the select group of additions, the Pritzker administration said the governor picked his projects based largely on his personal contacts and observations,” says the BGA, though hearings were held around the state to collect suggestions. Comforting, no?
Do not blame Democrats alone. Rebuild Illinois passed with strong bipartisan support, as the BGA noted.
Now, how is Rebuild Illinois being paid for? Overwhelmingly, by new or higher taxes falling hardest on the poor and working class. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2019:
- The gasoline tax doubled to 38 cents per gallon, which alone will take over $1.2 billion every year from consumers. It will increase each year in line with the consumer price index, which is now soaring.
- Cigarette taxes went up by $1, to $2.98 per pack, bringing in $156 million a year for the state.
- The sales-tax exemption on trade-in vehicles valued at $10,000 or more was ended.
- Vehicle certificate of title fees jumped from $95 to $150.
- Certificates of title for campers and motor homes jumped from $95 to $250.
A more complete list of the new and increased taxes to pay for Rebuild Illinois is here, from the Illinois Policy Institute. They are almost all heavily regressive.
Props to the BGA on their report.
Next time you hear Illinois politicians claim they look out for the little guy, remember Rebuild Illinois.
-Mark Glennon
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Somehow I figured this would be all over and done with in a few years after I moved out of state way back in 2017. Boy, was I wrong. The grift continues. I was hopeful when the evil leprechaun finally retired but it continues. My plans to return have basically been scrapped, courtesy of things like this. And Jumbo Belly positioned himself as being better than Rauner, sheesh.
Illinois government should give classes in “deceit” and how to write a law or a bill so that it can be interpreted any way the government wants it to be BUT not interpreted anyway a citizen thinks it should be. NO elected body is as manipulative as Illinois government. Please everyone remember this when AMENDMENT 1 is on the ballot in November 22. Do you want them to change our constitution and our laws? Do you want them to give supreme, unchallenged authority to unions even worse than it is now? This amendment is not about right to work it’s… Read more »
http://www.illinoispolicy.org/tag/amendment-1/
Marie, well said. Wirepoints will be all over Amendment 1 in the coming months. Plenty of time for that. The half-life of the average voter’s memory, though, is about a month, so we will be waiting a bit to start covering it.
I started talkin down the Progressive tax at least six months before it was on the ballot. Please don’t sell Illinois voters short. It will give them time to research it and think about it and decide to vote against it. This is a big deal it’s never too soon to start.
Rebuild Illinois aka Payoff Unions and other special interests.
I80 going west from Briggs to Channahon is an embarrassing, third-world, road. And its supposed to be an Interstate. The Joliet Bridge is about to collapse into the river, so school buses no longer use it. The barriers have been mazed crooked for years, pot holes and bumps everywhere, all exit ramps dangerously merged and narrowed, even the damn lane striping is totally worn off, hardly any lighting and no striping. No remaining shoulders, cars are funneled within inches of each other at top speed. My lane assist can’t even lock in on a lane. Wisconsin can build 10 miles… Read more »
Can the politicians seriously be so stupid as to think that the abysmally poor and corrupt governance of what’s left of a state has nothing to do with the mass exodus? More likely, they realize it but then return to Illinois’ long-standing motto; I got mine.
The answer is simple, those who are leaving wouldn’t vote for them anyway. So IL is getting more blue. Those staying are either trapped by family, true believers, or government workers. After all, IL has more units of government than any other state. Who’s going to change that with all its overhead, pensions, and benefits? Do you think any of those who have left, myself included, would vote for Pritzker (who thinks he’s Presidential material)?
All true, unfortunately. I’m in category 1 and just as despondent as you.
Although I left Illinois long ago, I still read Wirepoints for amusement. Your comments continually call for new leadership and other things that either won’t happen or won’t make much difference. You continue to resist the only option that makes sense…moving. The Wirepoints solution is to amend the state constitution among other things. That could actually work but it will not happen until the liberals have a gun to their head. Are you willing to wait years, perhaps decades, for that to happen? Then what? It will still be a mess compared to other states. The most common sentiment (or… Read more »
I do not get why you are blaming liberals for blocking an amendment to the constitution. I blame it on the politicians who don’t want to upset the apple cart — the teachers think they have a good deal in the pension 3% compounding. Politicians do not want to disrupt the relationship between union and labor.
Do not blame liberals on the lack of a constitutional amendment.
Well then why not put it on the ballot in November 22 just like they’re putting Amendment 1 on the ballot in November 22? Let us all vote for it and see how it goes.
There are only 3 ballot initiaives allowed per state election cycle and voters are only allowed 1 ballot initiative. Our GA challenges everyone of them and wins in court no matter how many valid signatures we get. The GA get the remaining 2 initiatives for anything they want. They were all schooled in the Madigan Way. They will block us at every chance. Remember IL politicians think we work for them, not the other way around.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight it the best I can. Because I am. It’s too important. Please don’t insinuate we can’t do anything about it because we can.
Elections are about votes and the votes are in Chicago where it seems that “vote for blue no matter who” is the team line for the voting base. Based upon that alone I have to agree with your post. Illinois won’t be changing in my lifetime but a good start would be to overturn those new judicial subcircuits. Let’s stay tuned to that one and see what happens.
Our biggest regret is not beating you out of here. We look at home prices in Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, etc. and on a per Sq foot basis more expensive than Illinois, you see, we have basements going for us here, it doubles your home size. So getting that space elsewhere is hard, I need my basement machine / metal shop hobby, it keeps me sane. Yeah I’m sincerely happy for you, its too late already for us, inflation in home prices will suffocate anyone near retirement who wanted lateral move instead of a drastic downsize.
“We look at home prices in Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, etc. and on a per Sq foot basis more expensive than Illinois” They’re only more expensive now because of the massive real estate bubble bigger than 2008 due to the fed’s morgage backed security bond buying. Inflation is running 7% but mortgages are 3.5% because the fed is the only ‘buyer’ for these low yielding mortgages. This has massively distorted the market in so many ways: ~ the AirB&B investor crowd has snapped up nearly all the homes for sale in vacation and resort areas using federally backed mortgages; ~institutional investors… Read more »
Interesting points. Quantitative Easing has been around since 09. Both Democratic and Republican administrations said nothing, did nothing. They are all thieves. The “taper” should have reduced long ago, but the corporations and the wealthy were making too much money. Obama, Trump, Sleepy Joe, it doesn’t matter. John Kass calls it the combine. They’re more sloppy in Illinois, but despite what the media tells us, this is how DC works. The faces may change, but the same people run things. No matter who is in charge, the oligarchs always make money.
You are correct. Inflating these bubbles seems to be bipartisan. The worldwide fallout from this massive ‘everything bubble’ is going to dwarf 2008. The bankers seem to think ‘things will be different this time’ because the central banks are holding all of these toxic assets instead of the pension funds and foreign countries. Who knows.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-signals-readiness-shrink-balance-sheet-why-thats-big-deal-2022-01-06/
Obama let the perpetrators of 08 walk, and also those who concocted and financed the Flint, MI debacle. He also let hundreds of thousands lose their homes while the bankers all got bonuses with OUR money! The media hides most of these misdeeds. Trump was right on that, legacy media is the enemy of the people. They’ll make stuff up, but won’t report the truth, and withhold information from us. My contempt for Trump is no secret, but I’ve done a deep dive into other non legacy media, and I’ve concluded that while he’s an absolute ass, he’s definitely not… Read more »
is it a coincidence that JB is the worse governor ever,and JB is the worse president ever?-jus sayin
Your premise is Factually inaccurate.
If you compare Case Shiller home value historical charts you will see that the relative ‘cost–of-carry’ (that is: annual property tax rates in Illinois ~3% vs ~1% alkl over America) describes the rate of a divergent slope of negative home price (devaluation) in Illinois VS. everywhere in America with realistic property tax rates (mean and median 1%).
Yes, there is a correlation between price inflation and property taxes – higher property taxes mean lower appreciation.
But that’s got nothing to do with the massive housing bubble we have right now. It just means Illinois properties have less price inflation – which is reflected in the Case-Shiller figures.
Just like the last housing bubble, most people denied we were in a bubble until it actually burst….and by then it was too late.
I only want to be clear that the additional 2%+-ANNUAL cost-of-carry (and additionally the public-debt phantom mortgage encumbrance) in Illinois dooms all Illinois homeowners to LOSE 2%+ per year of property value relative to homes all over America.
People need to know this, because mortgage brokers do not impart such details to naive new homebuyers.
Also, All of American taxpayers are on the hook for risks of lending to mortgages on properties in Illinois, for this reason.
There should be a law which differentiates risks of HUD mortgages in high property tax RATE regions, and sets parameters accordingly.
We purchased our home in SC during the 2008 recession fire sales. So, when we moved in early 2021, we got more than expected for our IL home, but we had a place to go. Housing is booming here and the only thing slowing it are supply chain shortages. Don’t let lack of a basement stop you. Two of our neighbors are avid Corvette and Harley guys and have immaculate auto workshops that amaze me. Plenty of cheaper rural areas, less traffic, less noise, clearer skies, and weather (9 holes this afternoon). Do a little research.
You merely need to look to Indiana. I am in the most north east corner now in a lake community. Its gorgeous. 2.5 hours from Shitcago. 16 acres (large house with basement🙂) bought for less than I sold my 1400 sq foot shitcago place. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
16 acres in lake community is a bit much for me! I’d like 1/5th acre on a lake with 50′ of decent frontage for the kids. But like I said above, the lakehouse market is ON FIRE with cash buyers and AirB&B dupes buying up everything in sight. It’s been this way basically since the day the pandemic started. Anything within an afternoon’s driving of Chicago is completely insane; and properties beyond that are only slightly less insane. The airb&b market really changed the nature of vacation homes are no longer priced on what an upper middle class family can… Read more »
WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS REMOVE THIS PIG FROM OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!
It’s hard to commend without four letter words, but first thing they need to do is remove some government units. If you school district doesn’t have at least 4 or 5 schools and the other district is within 10 miles you need to be combined. I know it will take a lot more thinking and rules that that but we have WAY to many school districts with way to many super’s, acct pay, maint, etc, etc that need to be consolidated and yes lot well paid people will lose jobs. (that’s the point)
Consolidated school districts make sense but reconciling the difference between elementary and high school teacher salaries and contracts will not be cheap. You’re never going to get high school teachers to take a pay cut so their elementary teacher counterparts can get a raise. Collective bargaining history has shown that there is no middle ground and the costlier contract always wins.
Read the Wirepoints article on off cycle municipal elections. Hardly anyone votes, no one knows candidates’ platforms, yet special interest groups get their voters out. Our village elected teachers union reps to 3 out of 4 seats. Few people knew their affiliation. So what do you think the next teacher’s contract will look like? And then your property taxes? That’s why we’re gone.
Roads where I moved to after fleeing Chicago are like bombed out roads in WW2 Germany. No money coming to fix them because its not Cook County.
Crook county roads are better, not a resident but they seem to suck too!
hilarious!-some of the shitiest roads and streets are in Chicago,smoother driving thru an unplowed cornfield then the hellhole known as Chicago
With the chip shortage, used cars values have skyrocketed. That means the $10,000 sales tax deduction cap on trade-in vehicles has become ever more costly and impacts more cars at the bottom end of the market.
That tax recerted back to giving full credit for the used car’s va
value effective Jan. 1, 2022.
You’re right. That cap went away Jan 1. Stupid law to begin with.
so thats how Fat Boy can run ads on the TV saying he’s improving things, increase taxes and fees more revenue flows into the coffers and the credit rating goes up.
JB didn’t improve things, we did. It’s not like he implemented some new process improvements or efficiencies that saved the state billions. He just raised the price on things we’re compelled to purchase (ie taxes).
He also got 1.9 Billion from the Feds but increased spending 2.3 Billion so next year is’t going to get ugly. He bought a year with Fed’s money but it’s not going to last.
It’ll be fun when JB goes back to the “we need the Fair Tax” well after bragging all last year about all the great things he was able to accomplish under the current flat tax.