Iroquois County Board member Barbara Offill points to a provision in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's recently passed state budget as a clear illustration of just how little consideration Springfield lawmakers are giving to the common Illinois taxpayer.
“The unions are the most important part of Pritzker's support,” Offill told the Kankakee Times. “Money speaks volumes. The unions will be taken care of and most of the working class will not see what's going on.”
Offill said the latest example of that comes courtesy of a clause in the budget that strips away the force behind a law aimed at curbing end-of-career salary spikes for retiring Teachers’ Retiring System (TRS) employees. Pritzker’s change in the law enacted under former Gov. Bruce Rauner comes at a time when the TRS system is already in arrears on at least $75 billion in pension payouts.
Iroquois County Board member Barbara Offill
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Under the new law, the last three years of a teacher’s career can once more include raises of as much as 6 percent, paving the way for accumulated pension increases to skyrocket by as much as 24 percent over that time.
“Today, with liberals, the taxpayer is not a factor at all,” Offill said. “They are just here to be drained. People are leaving this state in droves. I mean, look at Pritzker's proposed tax hikes and fees he's trying to get passed.”
Offill highlighted that that list includes everything from the Fair Tax hike to recreational cannabis licensing to video gambling taxes to a gas tax hike.
“Pritzker's going to spend more and more money that this state does not have,” Offill said. “Productive people will be forced to move out of Illinois due to the ridiculously high taxes and fees, leaving only people living off of the government. This, in the long-run, will be unfeasible for the future of Illinois. Illinois right now is well on its way to being another California.”
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