Illinois' finances continued to decline

In the fiscal year 2019, Illinois’ financial position worsened by $2.1 billion. The state’s finances have been on a steady decline since 2009. Currently, Illinois is $226 billion in debt. Since 2009, Illinois’ financial position has worsened by 88 percent.

The state has been fiscally mismanaged for many years. Gov. Pritzker claims the budget is balanced, but he is not including unfunded pensions and retiree health care benefits. The largest portion of Illinois debt is the combined $200.3 billion the state owes in pensions and retiree health care benefits. Illinois pensions are only 38 percent funded while no money has been set aside to fund retiree health care benefits.

In 2019, Illinois’ Taxpayer Burden was $52,000. Taxpayer Burden is the amount each Illinois taxpayer would have to pay to eliminate the state’s debt. Illinois also saw its largest outgoing migration in history with over 83,000 people leaving the state, many due to high taxes.

Illinois has spent the last 10 years in the bottom three spots on our Financial State of the States, bouncing between 48th and 49th place.

Gov. Pritzker claims the budget is balanced, but if he looked at Truth in Accounting’s, a nonprofit government watchdog, numbers he would see the budget is not balanced and will not be until he fully funds pensions and retiree health care benefits.