Kane County Reporter

Rep. Dan Ugaste is calling attention to a new Pew Charitable Trust study that finds Illinois is one of only two states that spends more than it takes in. on Jan 15th.

"Despite being one of the most heavily taxed states in the country, Illinois is one of two states that spends more than it takes in, according to a recent report," Ugaste posted on Facebook.

Ugaste raged that despite long being one of the most heavily taxed states in the entire country, Illinois still manages to be one of just two states to spend more money than it takes in on a regular basis.

Pew Charitable researchers note that Illinois has only been able to cover 93.9% of aggregated expenses in the last 15 years with the greatest shortfalls across the state coming during the period of The Great Recession or shortly thereafter.

Researchers found that Illinois, along with New Jersey, has tax revenue shortfalls exceeding 5% of total expenses, prompting Pew state fiscal health manager Joanna Biernacka-Lievestro to add “some states have an annual deficit here or there like for a recession or something like that, but then they get back in the clear. Illinois unfortunately is recording annual deficits every year.”