State Budgets: Illinois in a Holding Pattern

Illinois kicked the can down the road, not raising taxes but also not cutting much spending. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) had urged hiking the state’s flat income tax from 3% to 4.5%, which would harm pretty much the only bright spot in the state’s distortive and burdensome tax system. The state’s defined-benefit pension fund has sharply dropped in value, and the state will borrow $3.5 billion to make its payment this year, a hefty part of the budget gap.

More on Illinois here.