Fund Illinois Government Fairly and Responsibly

Jeff Smith will be a leader in Springfield for long-overdue fiscal responsibility.
  • Representative Activities:
  • A leading activist in Evanston on municipal issues
  • Real-world knowledge of project costs and departmental costs
  • Has reviewed and negotiated contracts with government agencies
  • Has litigated taxing-authority issues
  • Experience assisting fiscally troubled organizations
  • Research and writing on Illinois budgetary issues
  • Jeff's Plan for Fair Taxes in Illinois:
  • Reduce reliance on property taxes to fund education
  • Work for a responsible, progressive state income tax
  • Stop regressive, economy-deadening sales tax hikes
  • End irresponsible deficit spending and pension raiding
"Illinois, which has a regressive tax structure, suffers from a long-term failure to take in enough revenue to pay for programs passed and approved. The state has covered this up for years by using the pension funds as a credit card, through borrowing, and by "sweeps" from the many special funds set up for dedicated purposes, into the general operating budget. This patchwork method of budgeting must end.

"Although major decisions will be have to be made by the 96th General Assembly long before I take office, my work and votes in Springfield will reflect the following principles:
  • All state budgets must be truly and honestly balanced; in the near-term, this means that significant revenue increase, mainly via income tax, must be coupled with significant spending cuts.
  • Budgeting should reflect likely contingencies, not depend on the most optimistic assumptions
  • We must place people ahead of politics, buildings, and special interests
  • Spending cuts must target waste and inefficiency foremost; the most vulnerable in our population must not bear the brunt of difficult economic times
  • Taxation should be fair and progressive
  • Belt-tightening and sacrifice should be shared, not imposed disproportionately on a few; across-the-board reductions, third-party-contract reductions, and distributed cuts (e.g. furloughs) are preferable to layoffs
  • Going forward, pension reform is probably inevitable absent wholesale personnel and wage restructuring; the State should partner with employee unions to accomplish this by cooperation rather than confrontation
  • A second federal stimulus, from the state's point of view, would be welcome, perhaps even necessary
  • The legislature must not subject schools and local governments to unfunded mandates
I will share here some of my thoughts on Illinois's taxing and spending, and invite your suggestions and ideas as well."  - Jeff Smith

Ideas on the Illinois Budget
Moving Beyond Denial on a Tax Increase
Spend As If It Were Your Own Money
Fund-Sweeping Deficits Under the Rug


Back to Issues