Illinios is not a living destination

Illinois is not a living destination

I will try not to sound like a grumpy old man. I stay away from the gathering locations of grumpy old men to help keep me from sounding like a grumpy old man.

But this needs to be stated once and for all. I have my personal dilemma.

In 2017 I started a gig in Cedar Rapids Iowa. It was work and live in Cedar Rapids five days a week, come home for the weekend. At first I had an apartment, then house prices were such at the time to purchase a house. The goal was to use the house as my investment tool. When the time came that I completed the gig I could move where ever or stay. As it is a small house that I bought it would not do as well merging back in full time with the family.

So the decision tree is as follows, move back to the family home in Illinois, find another place in Cedar Rapids, find a place in the Quad Cities, or find a place wherever. The following is how the State of Illinois is making the choice either easy to exit the state and find financial safe haven.

Illinois and Chicago are out of control. Chicago had been on the edge of being out of control for as long as I can remember. I was born when Eisenhower was president. I was born in a hospital in Chicago and lived my first year and a half in Chicago before my parents moved us to the suburbs.

Living in the suburbs gave us a close look at the insanity that was Chicago. For two years I delivered the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times six days a week. I mastered reading the paper while rolling the papers. Weekends we got all of the Chicago papers. For five years I also delivered the main suburban newspaper. We watched the six pm news while eating supper. We watched Walter Cronkite. We listened to WBBM news radio.

There were some things that were consistent all of those years. 1. The Chicago Public Schools teachers always seemed to be on strike for higher pay. 2. Somebody was always getting shot or robbed somewhere in the Chicago. 3. It was far safer around Comiskey Park than around Wrigley Field. 4. The Bears played at Wrigley Field and we had stock car racing at Soldier Field. 5. There was industry in Chicago. 6. Chicago always seemed to be tight on the budget and the State of Illinois was there to save them.

There seemed to be a bit more balance between the Chicago’s strained finances and out state needing to fund Chicago. I was told when Michael A. Bilandic lost reelection to Jane Byrne that the original Mayor Daley (Richard J. Daley) knew how to move money around to cover all of the bills. Since then it always seem that Chicago spends more than it take in.

My grandfather who was a die hard live in the city Chicagoan once told me he was a Republican. I asked him why he stayed in the city when he could have moved to the suburbs and he never really gave me an answer.

All of my formal education came in Illinois. With the exception of second and third grade at a Lutheran school, my K-12 education came in Illinois public schools. My for years of college came at a private college in Illinois. My first twenty-three years were spent in Illinois. The second presidential election that I could vote had one candidate’s last stop in the town we were living. My first published letter to the editor was published in Illinois was relating to that election.

Then I left. I experienced Minnesota when Minnesota was sane.

In Minnesota I learned politics first through participation then as part of the media. Minnesota had a way that if you were interested in being involved in politics you could easily get involved. Perhaps, too easily. I learned how to solicit campaign contributions. I learned the tedious task of pamphlet dropping. I learned how redistricting could screw up the plans of candidates and the political parties. I learned that even if the candidate had won a nomination he still gave a lengthy speech, whether you wanted to hear a speech or not. The candidate needed the speech in front of the friendly group to get ready for the battle.

I still had some letters to the editor printed in various newspapers. Then my break. I got four hours a week with small town radio. Sure, there were not many people listening, but there were people listening. I was the final editor of my statements. I learned I had to distinguish between news and opinion. I read news then in a different segment I would editorialize. I learned there needed to be segregation between the two otherwise people would be confused. I did not want to be the news, I wanted to tell the news then later give my thoughts on the news.

After that gig dried up I eventually got a volunteer opportunity to read newspapers for the blind. This was done at a local college and was carried on a sub carrier of the local public radio station of which the listeners had a special box to listen to the readings. To this day I still call it magic. It is this news reading I learned the art of selective editing.

There was an allotted time period for the reading. There was a daily paper and various small town papers. We had directions on some of the article choices, but we also had latitude. We did not have to read complete articles, we could edit for time. But that also allowed the reader to omit something that some might consider important. After all, it was written. There may have been reason.

Eventually family considerations brought us back to Illinois. It was hard at the time, but with what has happened in Minneapolis in the past six years showed me God was getting me out of there in time.

But Illinois was still Illinois and worse. I got to see it first had with part time jobs in radio and newspaper gigs.

I learned the bad control of the Illinois state government was run by a small country club entity of Democrats from Chicago. It did not matter who the governor was and which party supplied the governor. A Republican governor could only do his best to do damage control. There was no ability to move an agenda of change.

The Democrats from Chicago have destroyed not only the finances in Chicago, but they are also doing their best to destroy the rest of Illinois. They have destroyed the ability of Democrats in out state to be independent of the money and influence in Chicago. It is this influence that allows the State of Illinois to be floundering in excessive spending, violations of federal immigration laws, creating pockets of dependent people, and limiting the freedoms our country’s founding fathers set to preserve.

I have written before. Governor JB Pritzker cannot do this alone. He has the willing accomplices in the Illinois legislative branches. Former Illinois governor Bruce Rauner spent his first two years getting a budget to sign. He finally signed one in his third year but throughout his term he got stymied every step of the way. Former Governor George Ryan also tried to compromise his way through and left the government with Illinois having posted back-to-back deficits of more than $1 billion. Other governors have battled this also.

Looking at the last sixty years, it does not seem to matter which party the Governor is from in Illinois. The 1970 Illinois constitution rewrite gave more power to the speaker of the house than to the governor. Think about that, for thirty-six years, Michael Madigan as Speaker of the House controlled legislation through Springfield. A representative from a district in Chicago dictated the legislative agenda. The governor had to try to negotiate with a representative elected from a small amount of the electorate.

Illinois has a spending problem. In my life time the state of Illinois has introduce new forms of taxation in order to have enough money to fund Illinois state government operations. The state government could not balance budgets and was trying to get the state income tax implemented. It took rewriting the Illinois constitution get the income tax implemented. The tax started at 2% for people, 4% for corporations. It is now 4.95% for people and 9.5% for corporations. This is higher than border states Iowa, Indiana, and Kentucky. Iowa and Kentucky are working on eliminating their state income taxes.

When Illinois implemented the lottery and said that this would replace the current tax situation for education. That did not happen. Ask any Illinois home owner about the educational component. Is it ever there!

And what do we hear from Illinois? More taxes. Since Pritzker has taken office there have been fifty-seven tax increased of one sort or another. Here is the list:

2019 Cigarette tax Increased from $1.98 to $2.98 per pack
2019 E-cigarette tax Added a 15% wholesale tax on electronic cigarettes, e-cigars and vapes
2019 Motor fuel tax Doubled to $0.38 per gallon of gasoline and increased to $0.455 per gallon of diesel, indexed to inflation in subsequent years
2019 Managed care organization tax Imposed new assessment
2019 Video gaming tax Increased to 33%
2019 Foreign-derived income tax Decoupled from federal rules, imposing higher state taxes on foreign-derived corporate income
2019 Tax amnesty program Expanded
2019 Title fees Increased fees for regular, mobile home, ATV titles and salvage titles, and introduced new fee for junk vehicles
2019 Gambling taxes Created a new progressive tax schedule with higher taxes on slot machines
2019 Motor fuel use tax Increased to $0.342 per gallon of gasoline and $0.376 per gallon of diesel in January
2019 Motor fuel use tax Increased to $0.532 per gallon of gasoline and $0.616 per gallon of diesel in July
2020 Motor fuel tax Increase to $0.387 per gallon of gasoline and $0.462 per gallon of diesel
2020 Vehicle registration fee Increased by $50
2020 Trucking registration fee Increased by $100
2020 Parking garage tax Imposed 6% rate on hourly or daily parking and a 9% rate on monthly or annual parking
2020 Electrical vehicle registration fee Added $100 fee to the annual license plate renewal fee
2020 Adult-use cannabis license fees Added new license fees for recreational cannabis
2020 Adult-use cannabis taxes Introduced 7% sales tax on legalized recreational marijuana
2020 Cannabis purchaser excise tax Introduced excise tax schedule based on product potency, ranging from 10% to 25%
2020 Online sales tax expansion Expanded online sales tax to online marketplaces facilitating third-party transactions
2020 Retailers occupation tax Increased state sales taxes for remote retailers
2020 Sports betting tax Imposed new income tax surcharge
2020 Sports betting license fee Added new initial and annual renewal fees
2020 Trade-in vehicle tax Applied sales tax on vehicle trade-ins valued over $10,000
2021 Motor fuel tax Increased to $0.392 per gallon of gasoline and $0.467 per gallon of diesel
2021 Net-operating-loss deduction Capped at $100,000
2021 Accelerated-depreciation deduction Opted out of federal rule
2021 Foreign-source dividend deduction Excluded amounts treated as dividends under IRC Section 1248
2021 Franchise tax Repealed planned phase out
2021 Auctioneers tax Imposed state sales tax on auctioneers that operate as marketplace facilitators
2022 Energy assistance charge Increased by $0.16 to $0.48 for electric or gas utilities serving more than 100,000 customers
2022 Motor fuel use tax Increased to $0.559 per gallon of gasoline and $0.627 per gallon for diesel
2023 Grocery taxes Resumed at 1%
2023 Rental housing support program surcharge Doubled state real-estate document recording fee to $18
2023 Motor fuel tax Increased to $0.423 per gallon of gasoline and $0.498 per gallon for diesel in January
2023 Motor fuel tax Increased to $0.454 per gallon of gasoline and $0.529 per gallon for diesel in July
2023 Motor fuel use tax Increased to $0.654 per gallon of gasoline and $0.757 per gallon for diesel in January
2023 Motor fuel use tax Increased to $0.685 per gallon of gasoline and $0.788 per gallon for diesel in July
2024 Net-operating-loss deduction Extended cap through 2027
2024 Video gaming tax Increased 1%
2024 Sports betting tax New graduated tax, ranging from 20% to 40%
2024 Parking tax Extended the parking excise tax to booking intermediaries, such as apps or third-party services that arrange parking
2024 Managed care organization tax Increased assessment
2024 Motor fuel tax Increased to $0.474 per gallon of gasoline and $0.545 per gallon of diesel
2024 Retailer tax discount Capped at $1,000 per month
2025 Hotel operator’s room occupation tax Imposed tax liability on "re-renters"
2025 Energy assistance charge Increased by $0.16 to $0.64 for electric or gas utilities serving more than 100,000 customers
2025 Leased or rented tangible property tax Imposed sales taxes on rentals or leases of personal property required to be titled but not registered with a state agency, such as ATVs, off-road motorcycles and trailers other than semitrailers
2025 Motor fuel tax Increased to $0.483 per gallon of gasoline
2025 Telecommunications tax Rate increased from 7% to 8.65%
2025 Tobacco products tax Rate increase from 36% to 45%
2025 Sports betting 25 to 50 cents per wager, depending on sportsbook
2025 Hotel tax on short-term rentals 6% hotel tax added to short-term rentals
2025 Corporate throwback Expands corporate income subject to Illinois tax
2025 GILTI Expands taxation of municipal corporate income
2026 Destination-based retailers occupation tax Expands sales tax collection to more online sellers
2026 Energy assistance charge Increases state mandated utility fee by up to 25%

Pritzker brags about eliminating the 1% sales tax on groceries, but the legislation he signed that was passed by the legislators allowed local municipalities to charge the 1% sales tax. Illinois also did not follow the federal rules on no tax on tips and overtime.

Pritzker and the Democrats are not finished yet. Ten cents for grocery store bags with an automatic yearly increase. No bagging for deliveries of groceries. This tax on grocery bags, is the money going to help. This has not passed statewide yet, but is already in place in Chicago. The state is really thinking about including retirement in come on their income tax. Not there yet, but the threat is real.

These taxes along with Green initiatives is constantly adding to costs not only for residents but every part of Illinois society causing a multiplying factor for expensive living. Green initiatives can be used for supplement but are not ready for prime time!

Illinois has Chicago using the state as an income source. This year money has been diverted from the state road funds to Chicago public transportation. But this will be a drop in the hat.

Chicago is short for the mid-year $130 million. Due to revenues cooked into the City Council-backed budget failing to materialize.

In future forecast projections we see $882.4 million deficit for 2027, a figure smaller than the initial $1.15 billion projection but still reflecting deep structural imbalances. Future deficits are expected to grow to $943 million in 2028 and over $1 billion in 2029 under baseline assumptions, while a negative economic outlook could push the 2028 gap to nearly $1.4 billion.

These numbers show a problem. The problem is spending. If you do not have the income then the spending has to be reigned in. But politicians and especially Democrats seem to think government can do everything. With that attitude there is no discretion on potential given to cutting spending.

Illinois is making it easier to have residents leave the state to find financial safe haven. It makes it even easier to not want to move there at all!