Do you recall a post here from a week or so ago in which I remarked that, were the District of Columbia to be made a state, it would make equal sense for every city larger than Mesa, Arizona to become its own state as well? Little did I know. Illinois News Network reports that there a bill in the Illinois House, HR101, which would urge Congress to make Chicago a state:
State representatives from different ends of Illinois disagree on whether Chicago politicians are pushing Windy City policies onto the rest of the state.
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, scoffed at the idea of House Resolution 101, which would urge Congress to make Chicago its own state.
“No, that’s a bunch of B.S.,†Moylan said. “Chicago provides a lot of tax revenues for other parts of the state.â€
There’s been lots of debate on the topic over the years, but one often-cited study based on a snapshot of the state found that downstate communities received more money from the state government than they contributed in taxes. Others note that Chicago takes from the rest of the state, pointing to the hundreds of millions of dollars the state sends to Chicago Public Schools.
Sponsors of HR101 also say Chicago politicians are pushing Windy City policies on the rest of the state with no regard for rural concerns.
Moylan said that’s not true.
“Chicago doesn’t force their policies on downstate. Downstate has their own communities and their own elected officials,†Moylan said.
I’ve mentioned it before. Chicago, Cook County, and its adjacent counties, called here “the collar counties”, have most of the state’s population, a disproportionate share of the state’s income, pay a disproportionate amount of the state’s taxes, but do not receive a commensurate return from the state in terms of state spending.
Additionally, Chicagoans are not treated fairly by the state. The Chicago Public Schools has its own pension fund, all of which is paid for by residents of Chicago. In addition Chicago taxpayers pay into the state’s teacher retirement system. Said another way not only are Chicagoans paying for the retirements of Chicago teachers, we’re paying for the retirements of all of the state’s teachers. There are any number of prospective remedies for that but as it stands Chicagoans are screwed.
I don’t think that Chicago should become its own state but I also think that Illinois’s residents need to disabuse themselves of any illusion that Chicago isn’t carrying its share of the state’s burden. We’re carrying out share and more.
Any notion that Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is pushing legislation intended to promote Chicago’s interests is wrong as well. Look at the record. The only interests that Mr. Madigan is furthering are his own.
