Bill to Halt Creation of New Layers of Government Advances in General Assembly

With Illinois having more than 2,000 more units of government than any other state, a bipartisan group of legislators is pushing for a four-year moratorium on the creation of any more layers of government.

According to State Representative Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove), who serves as Chief Co-Sponsor of HB228, prohibiting the creation of any more units of government sets the stage for an eventual decrease and consolidation of units of government. “Will Rogers was right when he said, ‘when you find yourself in a hole; stop digging!’ The passage of HB228 in the House is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Sandack.

Illinois currently has about 7,000 units of government, which is 2,000 more units than the runner-up state of Pennsylvania. “The bottom line is we have way too many taxing districts in Illinois,” said Sandack. “If HB228 is approved in the Senate and signed into law, at least we have applied a small Band-Aid to a sizable wound. At that point we can get serious about really reducing duplicate and unnecessary layers of government.”

A similar bill was approved in the House last year, but failed to gain approval in the Senate. “Bills like this tend to be unpopular, because lawmakers face enormous pressure by local government lobbying groups,” Sandack said. “But I hear daily from taxpayers who are at their absolute limit in what they can afford to pay in taxes, and eliminating taxing districts translates to tax relief for citizens.”

The bill is now pending in the Senate Assignments Committee. Senator Michael Connelly serves the Chief Senate Sponsor of the legislation.