Pritzker's plan: Balance budget on backs of Illinois' rich, gamblers and potheads

SPRINGFIELD - Not only will Illinois employers be forced to pay starting employees nearly double what they are required to be paid now, Illinois employers that have more successful businesses will be paying even more - if Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats are successful in changing the state's constitution. 

The required change will be moving away from the state's flat tax, to a progressive one, costing successful business owners and higher-paid employees more as their taxable income grows. 

In addition to the progressive tax, Gov. Pritzker wants to expand gambling and legalize pot in order to rake in more tax revenue. It's uncertain whether his proposals will cover the $3.2 billion budget deficit the state faces, much less neglecting to correct the state's serious pension dilemma or its billions in unpaid bills.

Illinois manufacturers were among the first to respond to the governor's plan.

“In order to grow and provide more middle-class jobs, Illinois manufacturers need financial stability from state government, including a budget that doesn’t spend more than taxpayers can afford or rely on gimmicks that will only cost more in the long run. While we applaud the focus on education and workforce development, this budget has a structural deficit of $3.2 billion and continues to kick the can down the road on pensions,” said IMA President and CEO Mark Denzler.

“It’s past time for lawmakers and the administration to make some tough decisions in order for Illinois to become a more attractive place for businesses to locate and expand. We stand ready to work collaboratively toward that goal.” 

State Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) said the governor was using a well-worn playbook that hasn't worked thus far. 

“The Governor promised a truly balanced budget with no gimmicks and did not deliver. He pulled from the same old playbook we’ve seen for years and it appears Illinois taxpayers will be on the hook for more taxes,” Wehrli said in a statement.

 

“Governor Pritzker is not interested in controlled spending or reforms. He wants to balance his budget through several new taxes and through revenue derived from sources that today are unconstitutional. He is also counting on new revenue from legislative initiatives, like legalized recreational marijuana and sports betting, that have not been considered by either chamber of the General Assembly yet. It’s awfully presumptuous to build a budget based on revenue he hopes will be approved. This proposed budget forces Illinoisans to fund even more failed government programs.”

 

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider compared Pritzker to former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

 

“Skipping pension payments, borrowing new debt, raising taxes, increasing spending - it’s clear that J.B. Pritzker is the new Rod Blagojevich," Schneider said. "Pritzker’s unbalanced budget proposal is more of the same, failed policies that got our state into the mess it’s currently in. Illinois taxpayers cannot afford to return to the budget deficits and failed policies of the Blagojevich era. Pritzker pledged to deliver a balanced budget, and he failed.”