Illinois welcomes growing debt, growing rates of violence, poor education systems, and poor infrastructure. However, the main focus for the petition is Illinois' debt, of which $131 billion are unpaid pensions.
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's proposal to pay back these pensions includes a $588 million property tax hike, a garbage collection fee, and even a 9% tax on entertainment usage such as Netflix and Spotify. That is downright ridiculous. Before Rahm re-elected, his commercials continually attacked his opponent, Chuy Garcia, who was portrayed as a terrible mayor that would impose a property tax; Rahm is now that terrible mayor.
The only solution to this mimicking the state of Colorado: legalize marijuana. The state has been successful in this endeavor and so can the Land of Lincoln.