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The people of Illinois deserve details and respect as they weigh in for the future of their state. Unfortunately, they were refused to both. That's what Greg Hinz completely missed in his recent column: "Pritzker opens the door to a tax attack – and Rauner's allies come on the scene" (October 17).
For months, candidate J. B. Pritzker has pledged to promise an endless list of policy projects and to give no details about their costs. Researchers at the Illinois Policy Institute have thus stepped in as guardians of taxpayers to provide Illinois citizens with information that they have been denied. Our fact-finding mission was simple: translate Pritzker's public statements into reasonable dollars using estimates from respected research organizations, and then gather information without making assumptions or judging the merit of individual projects.
Ironically, Hinz asked us to fill in the gaps on behalf of Pritzker in order to make a feasible plan impossible. Apparently ignoring our 56 notes and our two detailed appendices on methodology, Hinz returned to laziness by suggesting erroneous estimates and rejecting the analysis as an "ally of Rauner" approach. But agreeing with the governor on some policies does not make us an ally.
So what did we find? A Pritzker political agenda that would cost Illinois $ 18 billion in new spending with 132,000 jobs and $ 31 billion in lost economic activity in the first year. With such a huge price, it would be virtually impossible to achieve Pritzker's stated goals of improving the economy of Illinois, restoring state finances and providing tax breaks to the middle class. It is clear that Pritzker's promises do not hold water.
In the end, it is the taxpayers who should be offended by a column that proposes a political program based on rhetoric and not on details.
Politicians owe residents the true summary of their plan. Journalists owe readers the complete and balanced story.
JOHN TILLMAN
CEO, Illinois Policy Institute
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