View as PDF Chicago—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) have fought against higher taxes, reckless spending, and government largesse for nearly forty years. As we look back on our decades of activism and education of taxpayers, TUA is releasing some footage from our archives featuring our president and founder, Jim Tobin.
In May of 1997, Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar (R) attempted to pass a $1.6 billion school funding bill that would have raised personal income taxes in Illinois by twenty-five percent.
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-22, Chicago) was a supporter of Edgar’s proposal, and the powerful Illinois House Speaker easily got the income tax increase passed in the House.
But before SB 645 could pass the Senate, TUA organized statewide opposition to the legislation alongside Bob Redfern and Dan Crane of the Illinois Forum. Senate Republicans would soon feel the pressure.
“Jim Edgar is trying to deceive the voters again, as he has quite frequently,” remarked Tobin. “And I hope more and more voters become aware that Jim Edgar is a big tax-raising governor, in the tradition of Jim Thompson, and toss him out of office next year – as well as every other member of the statehouse that votes for this tax increase plan.”
TUA’s Jim Tobin was the only person to testify against SB 645 in the Senate Revenue Committee on May 30, 1997. The legislation died in committee that very day.
Gov. Jim Edgar’s $1.6 billion school funding bill was introduced to curry favor with government teachers and administrators, not for the benefit of students or Illinois taxpayers.
Edgar would soon decide to retire after his second term as governor of Illinois, rather than run again for elected office.
Real reform was needed in 1997 – and real reform is still needed today.
Taxpayers United of America is here to fight for you.
View as PDF Chicago—Illinois’ Republican legislative leaders announced their plan to address the ongoing financial crisis in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) at a news conference Wednesday morning, calling for a takeover of CPS by the state and allowing for bankruptcy to restructure Chicago’s worsening financial condition. Jim Tobin, founder and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), says that this proposal is a good start, but taxpayers need more details.
“There is no doubt that CPS is in big trouble and has been for years. Between government school retiree pension costs, administrative mismanagement throughout the district, and the backlash from poor political decisions, taxpayers are facing a huge tax burden that is only getting worse by the day,” said Tobin. “We are pleased to see legislators attempt to address the systemic financial problems plaguing CPS, but we will remain cautious until actual legislation is proposed and it can be reviewed with the interests of taxpayers foremost in mind.”
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno (R-41, Lemont) and House Republican leader Jim Durkin (R-82, Burr Ridge) proposed a state takeover of CPS, allowing the State Board of Education to replace the Chicago Board of Education with a newly created independent authority to run CPS until the financial crisis is resolved. This change would include CPS in a state financial oversight law that it is currently exempted from but applies to all other school districts in Illinois.
The other measure outlined by Illinois’ Republican leaders would allow school districts, like CPS, to declare bankruptcy, permitting the state board to negotiate new contracts with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), but not to renegotiate existing collective bargaining contracts.
“CPS and CTU must negotiate and implement real reform, because it is clear that Springfield is willing to hold out a lifeline to Chicago, but legislators and taxpayers are simply not prepared to bailout a district with a long history of financial insolvency and shady political maneuvering,” said Tobin. “We look forward to reviewing the details of the proposed legislation in the coming days, ensuring that taxpayers are not being saddled with billions of dollars’ worth of additional tax obligations while the politicians continue on with business as usual.”
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno (R-41, Lemont) and House Republican leader Jim Durkin (R-82, Burr Ridge) proposed a state takeover of CPS, allowing the State Board of Education to replace the Chicago Board of Education with a newly created independent authority to run CPS until the financial crisis is resolved. This change would include CPS in a state financial oversight law that it is currently exempted from but applies to all other school districts in Illinois.
The other measure outlined by Illinois’ Republican leaders would allow school districts, like CPS, to declare bankruptcy, permitting the state board to negotiate new contracts with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), but not to renegotiate existing collective bargaining contracts.
“CPS and CTU must negotiate and implement real reform, because it is clear that Springfield is willing to hold out a lifeline to Chicago, but legislators and taxpayers are simply not prepared to bailout a district with a long history of financial insolvency and shady political maneuvering,” said Tobin. “We look forward to reviewing the details of the proposed legislation in the coming days, ensuring that taxpayers are not being saddled with billions of dollars’ worth of additional tax obligations while the politicians continue on with business as usual.”
Taxpayers United of America’s president, Jim Tobin, was quoted during the latest pension release detailing the pension payouts of public employees in Fulton and McDonough counties by The McDonough County Voice.
MACOMB — With much attention being paid statewide on public employees’ salaries, layoffs and sweeping cuts to higher education and services, at least one group is suggesting another approach: pension reform.
Taxpayers United of America recently put out figures based on state records illustrating the pensions for retirees from Macomb School District, Western Illinois University and the City of Macomb. TUA President Jim Tobin first took on WIU President Emeritus Alvin Goldfarb by stating that Goldfarb “enjoys an annual taxpayer funded pension of $187,541.” Tobin further said, “Over a normal lifetime, he will get about $6 million in pension payments. His personal investment in this rich payout is about 5.3 percent or $321,260.”
The list also highlights Francis A. Kranovich as a Macomb School District retiree as having an annual pension of $149,363 payout and City of Macomb retiree Danny W. Brown as having a $61,969 annual pension. Tobin pointed out Brown’s retirement age of 56 and projected his lifetime payout as being about $2 million.
Lists broken down by county, city and school retirees can be found on the group’s website, TaxpayersUnited.org.
With the state’s budget impasse in full swing, Tobin said pensions are unsustainable.
“Tax dollars continue to be diverted from services required by today’s taxpayers into the pension funds for government employees, whose services were rendered long ago,” Tobin said.
To take things up a notch, Tobin even said the “largesse is stolen from a constituency whose standard of living is far below the ‘civil servants’ they support.” He also referred to the public employee pension system as a “Ponzi-scheme” generated by “Chicago Machine Boss (Mike) Madigan” and his “cronyism with unions.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office also accused public universities around the state of waste and “cronyism” as why higher education institutions such as WIU are facing budget shortfalls.
In response to Tobin’s allegations of budgetary shortfalls being due to high pension pay-outs being “stolen,” Illinois Federation of Teachers Vice President John Miller told the Voice that pensions did not create the budget crisis, and cutting such pensions will not solve it.
“It is disingenuous to imply that the total benefit paid comes from taxes,” said Miller, who is also the president of University Professionals of Illinois, Local 4100. “The state failed to fund its share of the pensions for decades. To assume that the benefits are the problem is simply incorrect. The pension fund is like any other portfolio. The employee contributes money, and it is invested, allowing the money to grow. The single largest sum of money that pays for these benefits is investment earnings. The problem is the state’s failure for decades to put its share of the amount into the system. State employees do not receive Social Security, nor does the state pay into Social Security like other employers. In essence, the state did not invest its part of their employees’ retirement.”
With regard to many public employees who make modest salaries, Miller said employees — including many teachers — take the jobs for modest pay knowing they will have security at retirement.
“They plan their lives around the standing pension agreements,” Miller said. “They cannot go back in time and invest differently if their pensions are drastically altered.”
