By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is about to sign his fifth budget into law. It’s “balanced,” committed to “fiscal responsibility” and contains “transformative investments,” he says. It’s the same language we’ve heard from the governor over the last four years.
But the real measure of success isn’t what the governor says it is, but rather how the state’s residents are faring under his leadership. And that, by most measures, has been a failure.
Fewer people are employed today than when Pritzker took office. Illinois’ economic growth is stagnant, at best. Tax burdens are higher than ever. And residents are fleeing in record numbers.
In the end, most ordinary Illinoisans don’t really care about state budgets, much less know anything about them. What they really care about is jobs and opportunity, tax relief and overall quality of life.
Unfortunately, the $50.6 billion budget – with its overspending, financial gimmicks and lack of reform or tax relief – is likely to make all those issues worse in Illinois, not better.
Jobs
Take the state’s jobs climate. Illinois actually has 70,000 fewer people employed today than it did when Pritzker took office back in January 2019. Compare that to other big states like Texas and Florida, which have employed 1.1 million and 850,000 more people, respectively, since 2019, and it’s easy to see how far behind Illinois has fallen.
It’s no surprise, then, that Illinois continues to have one of the worst unemployment rates in the nation. At 4.2 percent in April, Illinois’ rate was the 5th-highest overall and far worse than any of its neighbors.
Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri all have rates of around 3 percent or less. If Illinois had Missouri’s unemployment rate of 2.5 percent, 112,000 more Illinoisans would be employed today – equivalent to the entire population of Peoria.
Economy
Illinois’ economy has also stagnated since Pritzker took office. Real growth in GDP was only 3.2 percent from the 1st quarter of 2019 through the 4th quarter of 2022 – the 10th-worst increase in the nation.
In contrast, Georgia’s growth rate has been 2.5 times larger than Illinois. Texas’ was three times larger. And Florida’s rate, which has grown 13.2 percent, was four times larger.
Less economic growth means less opportunity for individuals. And so does corporate flight. The likes of Tyson and Caterpillar and Boeing and Citadel and Walmart leaving Illinois mean fewer jobs and a weaker tax base.
Taxes
Illinoisans are still paying some of the nation’s highest property taxes more than four years into Pritzker’s tenure despite his 2020 promise of reforms.
Illinois homeowners pay, depending on who you ask, the highest or 2nd-highest property taxes in the nation, competing only with New Jersey. The Tax Foundation puts Illinois’ average tax rate at 2.08 percent – 2nd-highest for 2021.
Illinoisans also pay the 2nd-highest gas taxes in the nation thanks to Gov. Pritzker’s doubling of the state’s motor fuel tax back in 2019 and his indexing of the gas tax to inflation.
And when all state and local taxes are combined, Illinoisans now pay the nation’ 7th-highest overall tax burden. That’s up from 10th-highest in 2019 when Pritzker took office.
Out-migration
The above issues have driven more and more Illinoisans out of the state. In 2022 alone, Illinois’ population declined by over 104,000 residents. Only New York and California experienced a greater loss of people.
Add to that the 100,000-plus decline in 2021 and Illinois has experienced a net population loss of over 230,000 people since 2020.
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Ignore all the backslapping and self-congratulations from state politicians.
They deserve no such praise until they actually tackle the problems that make Illinois such an extreme outlier on the issues that matter to Illinoisans.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Three big gimmicks in Illinois’ ‘balanced’ 2024 budget
- Chicago pensions nearly insolvent, yet lawmakers look to boost public safety pension benefits
- Illinois lawmakers face two choices on Invest in Kids Act: support schoolchildren or support teachers unions
- Disgraceful Illinois budget process on full display as even a draft hidden from rank and file lawmakers in both parties
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about the details of Gov. Pritzker’s proposed $52 billion budget, why the state is struggling now that federal covid dollars have run out, the controversy surrounding Tier 2 government pensions, why Illinois’ expensive education system fails to teach children to read, the outrageous demands of the Chicago Teachers Union, and more.
The bill passed despite their votes in response to certain incidents where local prosecutors are thought to have been too lenient with non-citizens assaulting cops.
Ted joined Jeff Daly to discuss how politicians can never spend enough on education despite there being no accountability for that spending, the growth of education staffing across Illinois, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $1 billion demand for Chicago schools, why Gov. Pritzker is providing $830 million in taxpayer subsidies to struggling EV carmaker Rivian, and more.
Illinoisans aren’t better off because they’re llinoisans PERIOD
The +$100g salaried/ $multi-million$ pension upper-income public sector hero GUARANTEED class are the only ones increasingly better off with their constitutionally contractually negotiated deals (with TIER II soon to be overturned). While us taxpayer/voter chumps are left with fake balanced budgets and equity hustle handouts if we are the current in fashion victim class to be exploited….while all along, as usual, the machine and their press fluffers claim to be progressives fighting for the little guy???? I aint got no GUARANTEES
Do I detect an attitude problem, sport? Call a mover and find Shangri-La, and you’ll be happy evermore. Just look in the mirror and tell yourself to give no more excuses to the contrary!
It’s fairly obvious that Illinois will never be on an even keel until all the fat, bloated blue democrats are run out of office and take their welfare enabling, top heavy Marxist government with them. There is no other way.
Baby Huey, and the entire Democrats will not change. The only way to stop this c… is to
Boycott and cause financial pain.
When the pockets are empty the Democrats
Will listen better.
NUF OF THE BS…….RECALL THIS GUY AND TAKE OUR CITY/ STATE BACK……FIGURES DON’T ADD UP……PUT A BUSINESS OWNER IN CHARGE AND FIX IT!!!
Here is metric to consider: In Woodstock Illinois (McHenry County), median income households in median priced homes must pay over 8% of household income in property taxes. In America, across-the-board (geographic regions, income quartiles) household budgets’ mean and median expenditure on property taxes is ~4%. (See BLS household expenditure surveys). Try it with your own budget: Divide property tax payment by gross income. Example: Woodstock median hh income $77k, median home value $183k, property tax rate 3.6%: $183000 home price -$6000 homestead exemption =$177,000. $$177000 x .036= $6372 property tax. $6372 ÷ $77000 household income = .0828= 8.28% of gross… Read more »
The Marxists in Springrad have determined that you don’t deserve anything over and above the basics. Any surplus is to go towards hundreds of social welfare programs to give a life to non- employable, lazy people that don’t really deserve anything.
There is a blueprint for bad guy behavior. In Zimbabwe, in our lifetimes, here’s what worked to make bad guys rich at the expense of not-bad guys: 1. Fix price of milk. 1.a. Milk Producers stop producing at a loss 2. Use State-run media to declare that milk farmers are baby murderers starving children. 2a. Milk farmers are bankrupt and flee for their lives. 3. Zim Ministers buy all milk farms for near zero personal at-risk capital . 4. Zim ministers declare victory for mothers, lift milk price fixing, and become vastly wralthy selling expensive milk from their personally owned… Read more »
If net outmigration averages 100,000 per year over the next 10 years, Illinois will have lost 8% of its population. What will Illinois look like economically? At what level of diminished public services due to lost tax revenue will cause citizen outrage? How many businesses will have closed or exited? To what level will the unemployment rate rise? Will home prices plummet as sellers far outnumber buyers? Will inflation crush consumer wallets because businesses must pay so much more to attract talent from a smaller pool of workers? Does Pritzker, Harmon or Welch have enough foresight to prevent a collapse?… Read more »
Springfield doesn’t seem this as a problem, but rather, a solution to get rid of you, deplorable. An inclusive utopia, by definition, excludes you, deplorable. They have a supermajority in the the legislature but will never be good enough until they can control 100% of the state, down to every local school board and dog catcher, as shown by the recent election. The state will be a smouldering ruin, of course, but they’ll control all of it. And after they achieve 100% control, they’ll start looking at ways to control neighboring states, through law fare, contractual disputes, and punitive legislation… Read more »
Thumbs down from the ghost of Karl Marx.
“an inclusive utopia, by definition, excludes you, deplorable”
There’s a reception desk outside of a state office (not the one where I work, but nearby) that’s all decorated with cutesy rainbows for Pride Month, along with one of those rustic crafty-looking signs that says “Everyone is welcome here!” The sign should have an asterisk and a footnote saying “except pro-lifers, 2nd Amendment supporters, people who don’t believe in exposing kids to porn or transgenderism, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and anyone who agrees with them or voted/would vote for them”.
The spread in overall tax burden with TN at +60% is life altering – your looking at least at a luxury car payment for a year, or a much nicer home, or optional private health insurance, or just more retained net worth.