![\"\"](\"http:\/\/illinoiseducationassociation.org\/media\/govquinn-300x199.jpg\" "\\"govquinn\\"")
This was not expected.<\/p>\nThis was not expected.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Gov. Quinn today took a bold step to stop the decimation of\u00a0public education in Illinois. \u00a0He proposed a one-percentage point (from 3 to 4 percent) increase in the state income tax for public schools.<\/p>\n
This was a surprise, especially, it seemed, to House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno<\/em>.<\/em> Interviewed on TV a few minutes after Quinn\u2019s budget address, the two Republicans appeared stunned and clearly did not have the right set of talking points for the speech that Quinn actually gave.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s speech also flummoxed his November opponent, State Sen. Bill Brady, whose plan to cut all state spending, including education, by ten percent would severely damage public schools and inflict massive suffering on Illinoisans who need help from the state.<\/p>\n Longtime Statehouse observer Jim Broadway of State School News Service says the Quinn proposal is smart politics.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 nothing is more popular than public education. Nothing affects citizens more directly than their children\u2019s access to pre-school or special education programs. Nothing affects their property tax bills more than state funding cuts.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n And<\/p>\n <\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n With the money that would generate \u2013 we estimate about the same $1.1 billion he proposes otherwise to trim from the ISBE budget lines \u2013 all the severe funding reductions we described for SSNS Newsletter subscribers earlier today could be restored.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n It is now up to the General Assembly. The legislature, after all, enacts state tax policy and budgets. All the governor can do is to propose them. Will constituents lobby their legislators to support an education surcharge to the income tax? Will the legislators listen to their constituents even if they do? <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n On Wednesday, IEA President Ken Swanson said<\/a> that while the governor\u2019s proposal for a tax to pay for education is appropriate and welcomed, the state has great needs beyond education. \u00a0Comprehensive tax reform is still needed.<\/p>\n The budget address surprise certainly sets the stage for an interesting moment next Friday afternoon, when Pat Quinn and Bill Brady make their first joint appearance at the IEA Representative Assembly.<\/p>\n That appearance will be streamed live on the Internet.\u00a0 Check the IEA Website for the details.<\/p>\n And plan to be in Springfield for Lobby Day on April 21<\/a><\/strong>s<\/a><\/strong>t<\/sup>.\u00a0 Things are getting interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was not expected. On Wednesday, Gov. Quinn today took a bold step to stop the decimation of\u00a0public education in Illinois. \u00a0He proposed a one-percentage point (from 3 to 4 percent) increase in the state income tax for public schools. This was a surprise, especially, it seemed, to House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Senate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-412645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412645","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\/5336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}