{"id":412081,"date":"2010-03-10T01:23:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T06:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c60fd53ef0120a921407f970b"},"modified":"2010-03-10T19:22:14","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T00:22:14","slug":"gov-pat-quinn-wants-33-percent-tax-hike-for-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/412081","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Pat Quinn wants 33 percent tax hike for education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Ray Long, Monique Garcia, Bob Secter and Rick Pearson<\/em> at 12:23 p.m.; last updated at 6:20 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today called for a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate to raise money for education and ease deep cuts he’s proposed in his new budget plan.<\/p>\n

In his short budget speech to the House and Senate, Quinn argued that an income tax "surcharge" would be enough to restore Illinois’ education budget to current levels and allow the state to get caught up on some of the millions owed to public schools, community colleges and four-year universities.<\/p>\n

Quinn wants to increase the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 4 percent — a 33 percent increase — with the corporate tax rate rising from 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent. The tax hike would bring in $2.8 billion a year.<\/p>\n

"I believe this 1 percent for education makes sense, and I think the people of Illinois will understand. We must invest in the future, even in these tough economic times," Quinn said. This is urgent. We don’t have six months. We don’t have six weeks. I challenge the General Assembly to take immediate action to enact the 1 percent for education initiative."<\/p>\n

Last year, Quinn unsuccessfully tried to raise the personal income
\ntax rate from 3 percent to 4.5 percent and provide some tax relief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The political dynamics for a tax increase have
\ngrown only worse as the election-seeking Democratic governor confronts
\ncampaigning legislators who fear a voter backlash in the Nov. 2 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n

Senate President John Cullerton said today that he supports the Quinn tax increase but wants the House to "lead the way."<\/p>\n

Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, noted the Senate passed an income tax increase last year and said that the Senate would be able to pass the new Quinn plan.
<\/br>
<\/br>"This was the governor’s idea…and I support it," Cullerton said.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Michael Madigan said Quinn did an "excellent job" laying out the dimensions of the state’s budget woes, but did not directly say whether he backed the governor’s tax increase. Madigan said he did not know basic details of Quinn’s proposal, such as whether the governor planned to have the tax increase expire.
<\/br>
<\/br>Madigan said Quinn should be applauded for having the "courage" to propose a tax hike at a time when it might be necessary yet still politically unpopular.
<\/br>
<\/br>"The people of America don’t want a tax increase," Madigan said on public television’s "Illinois Lawmakers." "They’re hurting…You should admire the governor for having the courage to stand up in these times and say we need to maintain the fiscal integrity of the state."
<\/br>
<\/br>Though the Democrats control the House, Senate and governor’s mansion, Madigan tried to assign some blame to GOP lawmakers as "non-participating dropouts in the budget process.
<\/br>
<\/br>"I sincerely hope that every member is prepared to cooperate and do the heavy lifting," Madigan said, referring to upcoming budget negotiations. "I have my doubts."<\/p>\n

Quinn’s Republican governor opponent, state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, called the budget proposal "a catastrophe."
<\/br>
<\/br>"I have never seen a fiscal plan that is such a disaster," said Brady, stressing that he thought more borrowing and tax hikes would only worsen the state’s already bleak economic climate.
<\/br>
<\/br>"It’s not going to work to bring business investment back to this state and jobs when you send a message that we\u2019re not going to solve our fiscal crisis, we\u2019re going to try to borrow our way out of it with record borrowing….A family, a business, a government can not borrow unless it’s got a plan to pay it back…We can not increase taxes in this state. All we\u2019re going to do is push more jobs out of the state."
<\/br>
<\/br>The governor’s caustic budget plan, first unveiled by top aides Tuesday, also relies on borrowing billions of dollars to stay afloat and pushing even more debt down
\nthe road. The administration’s hope is to persuade leery lawmakers to instead raise taxes in
\nan election year.<\/p>\n

\nQuinn aides warned the plan would cost some 13,000 teachers and staff
\ntheir jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly
\nprescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent.
\nBut even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11
\nbillion in the hole.<\/p>\n

Quinn took a shot at a plan offered by his Republican rival for governor, state Sen. Bill Brady, who has proposed 10 percent across the board cuts. Without naming Brady, Quinn said his GOP opponent was offering a plan both \u201cheartless and na\u00efve\u201d that would take a \u201cchainsaw\u201d approach to funding for schools and social services.
<\/br>
<\/br>Quinn\u2019s plan to downsize his income-tax hike request and focus it on education funding represents a small-step, targeted approach to the state\u2019s massive deficit. Such a plan could motivate the state\u2019s powerful teachers\u2019 unions and other education advocates during the current legislative session, pitting supporting schools against legislative fears of enacting an election-year tax increase.
<\/br>
<\/br>At the same time, the education tax increase alone would do little toward resolving the state\u2019s $13 billion budget deficit, leaving open the potential for further tax increase discussions between Quinn and legislative leaders following the Nov. 2 general election.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Quinn’s gambit, to propose cuts in education and social services,
\nrepresents the latest step in the increasing divergence between the
\nstate’s very real deteriorating fiscal situation and the rhetoric of
\npoliticians who believe the public doesn’t want or trust Springfield to
\nget any more money from their wallets.
<\/br><\/p>\n

\nSimilar cries about slashing services last year ended up being papered
\nover by increased borrowing. Many lawmakers privately expect that fears
\namong rank-and-file lawmakers about a voter revolt will lead to a
\nrepeat of last spring’s session.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBy proposing cuts of $1.3 billion in education, all but $94 million
\ncoming from grade and high schools, as well as taking about $300
\nmillion away from cities and villages, Quinn may be trying to set the
\nstage for public anger over the potential of increased local property
\ntaxes \u2014 more hated than the state income tax \u2014 to take up the slack.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nAt the same time, with politicians traditionally proclaiming that
\neducation is their top priority, the likelihood of teachers being
\npink-slipped in the midst of campaign season would seem doubtful.
\nLikewise, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has already turned thumbs-down on
\nQuinn’s idea to share less state tax revenue with cities.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nThough powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago
\ncould control enough votes for a tax increase, he has insisted
\nRepublicans also must vote to share the pain over decades of mismanaged
\nbudgets and underfunded state pensions. Republicans, however, have
\nlittle political incentive to back a tax increase and have contended
\nthe excesses were due to six years of budget gimmickry by disgraced
\nformer Gov. Rod Blagojevich and compounded by the Democrats’ one-party
\nrule of Springfield.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nOverall, Quinn’s budget proposal forecasts a $4.7 billion operating
\ndeficit for the budget year that begins July 1, on top of $6 billion of
\ndebt from the current budget. Quinn would borrow to cover the operating
\nshortfall, which would need to be repaid later on top of the $6 billion
\nin lingering debt.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nAt the same time, the state will face the loss of more than $1 billion
\nin federal money that has been used to prevent cuts in education
\nfunding this year. Quinn’s proposal counts on the federal government
\ncontinuing to pay a higher reimbursement rate for health care for the
\npoor. If that ends as scheduled next December, it would blow a more
\nthan $500 million hole in the budget.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nIn addition to the proposed education cuts, Quinn would cut half of the
\n$140 million used to help poor seniors make up for the federal
\n"doughnut hole" in their Medicare prescription coverage.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nStermer also said there was "an agreement in the works" within the
\nlegislature that would institute a two-tier pension plan with lesser
\nbenefits for future state workers. Such a plan, he said, would provide
\nup to $300 million in savings in the budget proposal. While pushed by
\nprominent politicians in both parties, a two-tier system has been
\nfought by state labor unions.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nThough it is likely that lawmakers would significantly revise Quinn’s
\nproposal, regardless of prospects for a tax increase until after the
\nfall election, the governor’s administration nodded to public sentiment
\nto cut government before raising taxes.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nAt the same time, Quinn appeared to adopt proposals offered by two
\nrivals for his job in the Feb. 2 primary. Echoing a call by Democratic
\nComptroller Dan Hynes, Quinn would review, renegotiate or dump many
\ncostly contracts that were signed under Blagojevich. He also proposed a
\ntax cut for small businesses that create jobs, while his general
\nelection rival, Republican state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington,
\nproposed a broader tax credit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Ray Long, Monique Garcia, Bob Secter and Rick Pearson at 12:23 p.m.; last updated at 6:20 p.m. SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today called for a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate to raise money for education and ease deep cuts he’s proposed in his new budget plan. In his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-412081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}