*This letter originally was printed in the Wednesday March 9 edition of The Daily Eastern News 

To the editor,

Illinois is not broke.

The people of Illinois have simply been denied the resources to improve their lives.

Whereas Illinois is the 13th wealthiest state in the U.S., it is 47th in spending per capita on education, healthcare and human services.

Budgets have two sides:  revenue and expenses.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the need to cut expenses.

Let’s talk about the revenue side.

With its regressive tax structure, Illinois taxes its poorest citizens at the fourth highest rate in the nation while taxing its wealthiest citizens at the 11th lowest rate.

On account of the decrease in the Illinois income tax rate in January 2015, Illinois’ richest person is expected to save $16.3 million on his annual tax bill, an amount equal to half of the annual state appropriation to Chicago State University and over 20 percent of the total cost of the MAP grants already promised to our most needy students.

By way of contrast, consider Minnesota. By raising tax rates on the richest 1 percent, Minnesota generated an additional $1.3 billion in annual revenue and increased funding for education by $485 million annually, in addition to increasing childcare credits and improving affordable access to healthcare. Its economy is thriving.

By providing its people with real opportunity and taking care of their fundamental needs, Minnesota is prospering.

It is long past time that we, the people of Illinois, demanded a “people’s agenda,” one that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all.

Charles Delman, professor of mathematics