When taxpayers trust Springfield … Part 3: ‘Honest, we’ll only soak the 3%!’ – Editorial – Chicago Tribune

So if your legislators promise to “only soak the 3%,” remember:
  • Illinois tollways will be freeways by 1973. (Promised conversion dates varied.)
  • The Illinois Lottery, authorized in 1973, will fund schools. (Instead, in a shell game, lottery proceeds get diverted).
  • The 1989 income tax surcharge is just temporary. (Made permanent in 1993.)
  • Gov. Jim Edgar in 1994 signs into law a plan to fix a $15 billion unfunded pension liability that Edgar calls “a time bomb.” (Lawmakers give themselves pension holidays and spend the money elsewhere. Taxpayers’ unfunded liability now exceeds $130 billion.)
  • The “College Illinois” program Madigan helped pass in 1997 is guaranteed to pay for itself. (Unfunded liability now facing taxpayers: $501 million.)
  • In 2010, Gov. Pat Quinn says he won’t permit an individual income tax hike higher than 1%. In January 2011 he signs into law a “Quinncome Tax” twice that size.
  • Legislating that notorious 67% increase in the tax rate, Democrats include a provision that by 2025, the tax rate will retreat to 3.25 percent. Democrats also promise that the tax hike will fix the pension system, eliminate overdue bills, boost Illinois’ economy, create jobs, end annual budget shorfalls, and improve state bond ratings.
  • In 2017, lawmakers instead say they need much more revenue than the retreating tax rate gives them. So they raise the personal income tax rate by 32%, to 4.95%. Democratic sponsors said the spending plan should start paying down a backlog of bills and reduce costs in the pension system.
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Andrew Szakmary
6 years ago

About the comment that it’s a shell game and lottery proceeds get diverted, my wife and I studied that very issue nationally and found no statistical evidence in support of this statement. In other words, when states institute lotteries and dedicate the funds raised to schools, we found that total education spending tends to increase commensurately. Granted, this was in the 1970-1992 period, so it may be different now and it may be different in Illinois, but if you could cite scholarly studies that actually support your assertions then perhaps I would take your website more seriously.

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Mark Glennon
6 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Szakmary

Andrew, we post studies and viewpoints from all sides here from major voices or that look particularly significant. Tribune editorial pages are a major voice. We make a special effort to be sure to post those from the left. We don’t always agree with those from either the left or the right. Many of them come from reader suggestions. You should feel free to send conflicting studies just as you post conflicting comments. As for your particular comment about proceeds of earmarked revenue being diverted, it happens all the time in Illinois. Every budget in memory has included raids on… Read more »

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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

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