•January 16, 2019•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

I hate to play the skeleton at the feast, because Gov.-elect J. B. Pritzker has an apparently strong desire to do more and better for the state of Illinois. Yet, he must face the harsh realities of having inherited a fiscal system that is broke, deep in debt, bankrupt in the sense that Illinois cannot pay its bills in anything close to a timely fashion.
So, will the themes for his forthcoming state of the state and budget messages be akin to “Happy Days Are Here Again” or a somber “Blood, toil, tears and sweat”?
Here is snapshot of the situation he faces. For probably two decades now, Illinois state government has been running annual budget deficits of roughly $3 billion or more, on average, when unfunded future obligations and piled up unpaid bills are included.
The situation is so bad that in 2017, according to Reuters, the state paid out more than $1 billion (a 1 followed by 9 zeroes) to vendors in late payment penalty fees, a frittered-away billion dollars of taxpayer dollars that did not buy a solitary good or service!
The state’s credit cards are all maxed out. If Illinois continues to spend more than it takes in, while bills pile up, the folks at the bond rating agencies will begin to mutter “Puerto Rico” under their breath (P.R., the bankrupt semi-sovereign American commonwealth).
During his campaign, J.B., as he likes to be called, pledged to enact a progressive income tax (higher tax rates for higher incomes), a big infrastructure building program, and increased spending for education, higher education, and more.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.