Gov. JB Pritzker was able to come up with a balanced state budget plan for the next fiscal year despite voters turning down a proposed move from a flat to a graduated income tax in November.
But that feat, which still requires the General Assembly to eliminate more than $900 million in tax breaks prized by businesses, doesn’t hide the fact that Illinois needs structural tax reform and refinancing of its pension debt to stabilize finances and avoid more cuts to education and other state services, according to a Chicago-based tax policy think tank.
“The problem is still there,” said Allison Flanagan, co-author of a new analysis of Pritzker’s fiscal 2022 spending plan released Thursday by the progressive Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.