I think what we actually need are some hard rules for how much you can spam before you are banned.

I have dozens, even hundreds, of good reports against some users. I've reported users stating as such and pleading for a ban. I've opened threads in Meta about obvious bot accounts from crypto news site which spam the Press board constantly, pleading for a ban. I've opened threads in Meta about accounts which post literally the same posts every week, deleting them and reposting them each week to max out bounty/sig rewards with zero effort, pleading for a ban. It never happens. I recently discovered one of these accounts which was kicked from its sig campaign for this behavior had happily enrolled in a new one.

Why should I continue to waste hours of my time, which is far more valuable than that of a chronic spammer's, continuing to report these users, when they receive literally zero punishment?

I would propose that if in the space of 30 days (rolling) you have more than 10 posts deleted for spam, then you automatically receive a one week ban. This increases to 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, permaban, on subsequent offenses. (Replace numbers as you see fit.)