"Any cut to the Illinois state budget is a win for taxpayers," said Jim Tobin,
President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). "However, a broad cut to the
state budget is not enough."
Tobin says the state of Illinois’s financial woes are due to the vast amount it
spends on lavish, overpromised retired government employee pensions.
"This is why Pritzker is really cutting the budget, he wants to divert pay from
current Illinois government employees to retired Illinois government employees,"
Tobin said in a release this morning. "Every year former Illinois government employees eat up even more of the state’s
budget.
In fact, the primary motivation for a $5 billion state income tax hike
that passed a few years ago was to transfer wealth from taxpayers to the black
hole that is the Illinois pension funds."
Pritzker calls the current state's budget woes a "nightmare scenario".
We've reached a critical juncture for our own state finances in this COVID
induced financial crisis," he said during his press conference in Chicago.
In June, Pritzker signed off on $43 billion dollar budget that began July 1
relied heavily on federal aid and borrowing to fill revenue shortfalls due to
the COVID-19-induced economic slowdown.
A memo from Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes and budget director Alexis Sturm to agency
directors stated the state's current budget "is only affordable in its current
form with federal support to bridge the pandemic-related shortfalls and that now
appears not to be forthcoming."
Illinois stands to lose out on $6.5 billion in revenue this year and next year.
Agency heads were given until Oct. 2 to outline their reductions for the current
year. This includes taking necessary measures from hiring freezes to
renegotiating on any planned spending commitments.
Tobin points out that governor's Illinois progressive income tax is purely a move to raise taxes.
"Pritzker’s income tax increase amendment, better described as an income theft amendment, is not what Illinois needs," he wrote. "Illinois taxpayers should vote no on November 3rd to the proposed amendment change, and demand Pritzker to cut spending further."
The theme of this year’s conference is "Pulling Together in these Challenging Times". The two-day series of meetings with more than 20 workshops and panel discussions will be held virtually over the internet using a video communications platform starting on October 6. Planners are working diligently to ensure virtual attendees will have access to valuable knowledge from experts on rural healthcare. The conference is an excellent opportunity for rural healthcare professionals to learn about successful practices from their peers in Illinois.
Topics for the upcoming annual event include COVID Tracing in Rural Communities, the Latest Case Law
Impacting Medical Negligence Matters, Telehealth Billing and Mental Health Care
for Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic and more. According to the release from the IRHA, there will also be a
specific workshop track for Rural Health Clinics. The Keynote Address will be delivered by Brock Slabach, VP of Member
Services for the National Rural Health Association
on the Latest in Federal Healthcare Policy
To register or view the conference brochure, interested healthcare professionals can point their browsers to www.ilruralhealth.org. For additional information, contact Margaret Vaughn by phone at (217) 280-0206 or via email at staff@ilruralhealth.org.