Representatives Bourne, Scherer and Halbrook:

As you are well aware, this state is in some serious financial trouble. That, unfortunately, is
being further escalated by an average of 17,280 Illinois residents leaving the state for an
environment whose government isnt hostile toward businesses or individual taxpayers every
day. Were losing residents to six Midwestern states Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri,
Kentucky and Tennessee as well as other states far west of here whose taxes are significantly
lower than that of Illinois current rates.

This will only intensify should legislators like yourselves continue to allow for passage of yet
another unbalanced budget a repeating event that has been happening every year since 2001,
when George H. Ryan was governor. Its been nothing but reckless spending since then, with
absolutely no accountability or fiscal responsibility. And even as I type this email, were another
minute and day closer to being two years without a full budget that is mandated by the state
constitution to be BALANCED, not slanted by billions in excessive expenditures. There are two
other states in the nation who is exercising the same level of fiscal incompetence and illiteracy
that is currently exercised in Illinois and also doesnt have a fiscal budget for almost two years:
Pennsylvania and California.

This needs to stop. Ive spent the last week reading through the proposals by both Governor
Bruce Rauner and the Democratic leadership have offered. While there are some good aspects
in both proposals, the rest is absolute garbage. I hate to say this nay, actually, I take pride in
saying this more taxation will not solve the states overwhelming problems created by the
government. There was never a revenue problem. What has always been a problem is
spending billions more than revenues taken in. I listened to the debate yesterday afternoon
regarding funding of some programs and an excellent point was given regarding Article VIII,
Section 2 of the Illinois Constitution. While Democratic leadership only focused their attention
on subsection (a), whats being ignored is subsection (b), which is better known as the states
balanced budget amendment.

The General Assembly, by law, shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds
by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General
Assembly to be available during that year. While I know Representatives Bourne and Halbrook
knows what that defines, so I ask you, Representative Scherer, why are our budgets so
unbalanced? No other excuse than more taxation, right?
Illinois is already among the most overtaxed states in the nation and recently, more taxes were
proposed to beat down the people of this state even more:
Democrats want the individual income tax raised to 5% from 3.75%. Its bad enough we
pay this tax all year long and get jack squat in return come tax filing time.
Democrats want the corporate income tax raised to a rate somewhere between 10%
and 15%. Sure, show the rest of the nation how hostile we are toward businesses.
Theyve already scared off some of our biggest corporations to Indiana, Missouri, Iowa
and Kentucky.
Democrats want to implement a service tax concurrent with the sales tax rate.
Representative Scherer, do you realize I live among one of three communities in
Montgomery County who will be paying a 8.25% sales tax beginning July 1? My primary
field of work outside being the Deputy Communications Director of the Libertarian Party
of Illinois and Chair of the Tri-Counties Libertarian Party is in none other than
information technology. The state of Illinois would effectively be stealing from my
already-low bottom line. My business, for the forseeable future, may have to remain at
home, so I would only have to charge 7.25%, as Im one mile outside of the City of
Nokomis business district.
Democrats want to charge a business privilege tax, just for the hell of having the
privilege of running a business in the state of Illinois.

Cant you see how these proposals can seriously be deemed hostile to the states taxpayers and
businesses? Cant you see its things like whats specified above that are forcing residents and
businesses to relocate to another state?

Im being serious when I ask my next question: Did any of you Governor Rauner, yourself,
your colleagues, Speaker Madigan, your counterparts in the Illinois Senate, President Cullerton,
anybody ever look at what the conservative/libertarian think tank Illinois Policy Institute has
to say on the matter? [Video]

If you want me to save you the time of watching the five-minute video, let me break down
Illinois Policys plan, which involves zero tax increases:
1. Comprehensive Property Tax Reform: Its time for comprehensive property tax reform
that freezes property tax rates, ends the shell games involving education funding and
state subsidies that fuels local overspending and eliminates expensive Springfield
mandates that drive up the cost of local government. This reform could save taxpayers
as much as $3.4 billion a year.
2. Constitutional Pension Reform: Its time for constitutional pension reform that gives all
new state workers self-managed pension plans, putting the state on the path of
eliminating the defined-benefit pension system and the current $130 billion pension
crisis that is attached to it. This ensures the state can protect taxpayers, social services
and worker retirements with a pension payment that is $1.65 billion lower than the
baseline in 2018.
3. Fair State Worker Contract: Its time for a fair state worker contract that is in line with
what taxpayers can afford. Recent demands from the public sector unions have
 provisions that the states taxpayers currently cannot afford. Illinois state workers are
already the highest paid in the nation after adjusted cost of living and receive platinum-
level insurance at bronze-level prices. A fair contribution from state workers to cover
health care costs and reforms regarding overtime and reducing payrolls is needed and
can save taxpayers $1.1 billion a year.
4. Ensuring Integrity of Illinois Medicaid: Currently, the Medicaid program is not working
for the poorest citizens in the state who need it, such as the elderly or parents with
infant and young children. Eligibility checks and reforms such as reducing prescription
drug prices can save taxpayers $415 million a year, while focusing its attention to the
people who need it most.
5. Prioritize Students Over College Administrators: Its time to prioritize college students
over college administrators. Fifty cents of every dollar spent on higher education is
going to retirement costs. While student and faculty numbers are flatlining,
administrator pay has been skyrocketing faster than ever. These costs are making tuition
costs skyrocket. To ensure access and affordability in higher education, the state should
stop subsidizing administrative bloat at public colleges and universities and make cuts
equivalent to 10% of payroll costs, saving the state $500 million a year.

Thats $5.965 billion taxpayers could be saving, but it could be further intensified:
1. Privatize the Department of Motor Vehicles: Its time to lighten the load off the
Secretary of States office and a much-overdue change is needed to transition the
Department of Motor Vehicles to the private sector. Based on a report [source] from
the Show-Me Institute, Missouris counterpart to Illinois Policy, former Democratic
governor Jay Nixon and the Missouri General Assembly made the decision to privatize
out of the sake of governmental efficiency and has been a success since it took place.
Privatizing Illinois DMV could lead to much-needed relief on outrageously priced license
plates, where passenger vehicle plates can be considerably reduced to a reasonable
range of $50 to $55 a year, opening up an option for two-year registrations. These new
rates resulting from privatization is based on rates shown on the Missouri Department
of Revenues website. [Source] While I may not readily know the cost of this division of
the Secretary of States office, it could lead to considerable savings to the taxpayer.
2. Shut Down the Illinois State Board of Elections: With the privatization of the
Department of Motor Vehicles, this agency is absolutely unnecessary. In our neighboring
states, the supreme election authority in their state is none other than the Secretary of
State. Again, not knowing the cost of the State Board of Elections, it could lead to
considerable savings to the taxpayer.
3. Privatization Is NOT A Bad Thing: It is not essential for all state departments to have
employees from public sector unions. Ill give you an excellent example of one agency
that can be privatized and work can be done more efficiently, resulting in savings to
taxpayers: the Legislative Information System aka the state of Illinois information
technology employees. There has been much inefficiency in that agency that makes
professionals in the I.T. sector shake their heads in shame. If businesses from the private
sector took over, work orders would be completed a lot quicker than a state employee
who makes legislators wait three hours before doing anything about it. There may be
 some agencies where privatization would have limited or no success, like Agriculture,
Commerce, Corrections and Natural Resources for example (although the Village of
Ramsey wanted to take over Ramsey Lake State Park when IDNR threatened to shut
down the park due to the budget impasse).
4. Reduce Your Legislative Pay: For legislators who are in session anywhere between 100
and 150 days a year, $67,836/year plus per diem is absolutely unreasonable. You are
among the highest paid legislators in the nation, with House Speaker Madigan and
Senate President Cullerton, with other benefits, making more than those serving in the
same capacities in New York and California. You were elected to serve the people who
reside in your districts, not take a massive salary at the unreasonable expense of
taxpayers. You know what is more reasonable and fair and taxpayers? $200 per term
(New Hampshire) or no salary with per diem only ($164/day, tied to Federal rate). Thats
a considerable savings to taxpayers, because youre supposed to have regular jobs when
youre not in session.
5. Eliminate Legislative Pensions Altogether: Reforms were made last year to ensure new
legislators were not allowed to participate in the legislative pension fund.
Unfortunately, it doesnt go far enough and the entire legislative pension fund needs to
be dissolved and money returned to the states taxpayers. We never consented to
legislators getting pensions, so youre not entitled, nor should you be entitled, to one.
More savings to taxpayers.

In an additional note, the Illinois County School Facilities Occupation/Sales Tax is in some
desperate need of reforms. Montgomery County recently passed a 1% increase, effective July 1,
by a narrow margin, which does nothing but reward the fiscal irresponsibility of the school
districts with the most debt load, Hillsboro and Litchfield. As the clause is currently written, it
has no expiration date and cannot be repealed. This is not fair to taxpayers. Its also not fair for
self-interested companies dealing with selling and issuing bonds like Stifel Nicolaus to be
pushing for these sales tax increases. [Source 1] [Source 2]

Id like to propose reforms to the ICSFST:

Allow for voters in a given county with an active CSFT to repeal it, particularly on even
election years where theres significant voter participation as compared to odd number
year consolidated elections with little to no participation.
Allow for individual school districts to opt out of a CSFT when they had no interest in
participating to begin with.
Allow for voters within an individual school district to vote on opting out of a CSFT.
Allow for the creation of expiration dates for a CSFT, effectively overruling the
unexpired term of a CSFT currently active in roughly 71 counties.
Prohibit organizations that would otherwise benefit from a possible CSFT passage from
lobbying or pushing for the referendum before school districts and then campaigns for
the referendum with false intentions. Yes, that eliminates Stifel Nicolaus, Unicom-ARC,
Chapman and Cutler, BLDD Architects and Kings Financial among others. School districts
 must pursue this on their own, but it is preferred they stop behaving like the General
Assembly and just stop spending more money than what they take in.

I hope to make it to Springfield in the near future to speak to you, as well as your Illinois Senate
counterparts, to discuss some common sense solutions to our fiscal mess that doesnt involve
tax hikes and putting a chokehold on some spending to pass the first balanced budget in 16
years.

Jake Leonard
Chapter Chairman | Tri-Counties Libertarian Party
2018 Libertarian Candidate | Montgomery County Treasurer
Member | Libertarian Party of Illinois Legislative Action Committee
Website: www.tricountylibertarians.org
800 Capps Ave., Nokomis, IL 62075
office: 217.630.2107 | mobile: 217.710.0158

P.S.: Please forward this to Representative Allen Skillicorn. I hope he can appreciate my
insight and suggestions as someone not from the area. Also, I couldnt find email addresses
for Senators Andy Manar and Chapin Rose, so I would appreciate it if this could somehow get
to them. As an extension for the Senate, please forward to Senator Kyle McCarter. Thanks. -JL