Full Text of HJR0087 98th General Assembly
HJ0087 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has been in economic turmoil | 3 | | for years and has gained notoriety across the country for | 4 | | spending outside of its means and falling into enormous debt | 5 | | that burdens Illinois's taxpayers; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has a total debt of $187,000,000,000 | 7 | | equaling roughly $40,000 in debt per household in the State; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, A recent Commission on Government Forecasting and | 10 | | Accountability report estimates Illinois's unfunded pension | 11 | | liabilities alone total $100,500,000,000; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Comptroller has reported that the | 13 | | State currently has $7,000,000,000 in unpaid bills and | 14 | | $30,000,000,000 in bond debt; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In 2011, as a promise to Illinois taxpayers to pay | 16 | | off debt and to stabilize the State's economy, Illinois | 17 | | lawmakers pushed through a record income tax increase that | 18 | | raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5% from 3%, and on | 19 | | corporations to 7% from 4.8%; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Since the tax increase was passed, Illinois's |
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| 1 | | pension debt has grown and the State's economy has struggled | 2 | | due to increased spending; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The tax increases and irresponsible borrowing | 4 | | have forced businesses and residents to flee the State for more | 5 | | tax friendly and financially stable states that offer more hope | 6 | | for success; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The citizens of Illinois have been calling upon | 8 | | their elected officials to stand against wasteful spending and | 9 | | to assure its citizens that the Illinois General Assembly is | 10 | | ready to make the necessary changes to put Illinois on the path | 11 | | to prosperity while giving a much needed relief to taxpayers; | 12 | | and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Real solutions exist to Illinois's massive debt | 14 | | and spending problems and these solutions exist without | 15 | | increasing the already high tax burden on its citizens; | 16 | | therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 19 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Legislature is | 20 | | encouraged not spend outside of its projected 2014-2015 revenue | 21 | | estimate of $34,495,000,000 as acknowledged in HJR80 of this | 22 | | General Assembly and that every legislator in this State |
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| 1 | | recognize that Illinois can no longer spend more money than it | 2 | | brings in through revenue and can no longer ask its citizens to | 3 | | bear the burden of government misspending; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Legislature is urged to keep | 5 | | its promise and allow the temporary tax increase to sunset on | 6 | | January 1, 2015 as scheduled and to enact real spending | 7 | | reforms.
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