* So, are we heading for an overtime session? It’s being discussed at high levels. From the Tribune…
Going past the legislature’s Sunday deadline would put Republicans in play because three-fifths — instead of a simple majority — would be required to approve legislation that immediately takes effect.
Some Democrats rationalized blowing through the deadline as a way to force Republicans to put up votes for an income tax increase, sharing the political blame for higher taxes. Failing that, they said privately that Republicans also would share with them increased pressure from social service advocates and labor unions to prevent deep cuts.
More of the rationale, from the Sun-Times…
Gov. Quinn’s bid to raise the state income tax won’t pass this week without Republican votes, the top Senate Democrat warned Tuesday. […]
It’s also a sign of how Democrats, going into the 2010 election cycle, don’t want to be the only ones wearing the collar politically for the biggest state tax increase in nearly four decades.
* Quinn, as expected, has altered his income tax proposal…
Quinn originally wanted to triple the current $2,000 personal tax exemption to $6,000, but now suggests a $1,000 increase in the exemption level. Quinn also offered two potential tax breaks: doubling the current income tax credit for property taxes from 5 percent to 10 percent, with a limit of $500, and doubling a tax credit for the working poor.
There’s more to it, but you’ll have to subscribe.
* Subscribers already know about this…
House Democrats were giving a long list of spending items and the cost of each, then were asked to say which they wanted to fund and which they were willing to cut.
Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said lawmakers essentially were given the job of figuring out how to spend $3.8 billion of revenue on $11 billion worth of programs. Three items alone — prescription drug assistance, help for the developmentally disabled and state employee group health insurance — cost nearly $4 billion.
Yep. It’s a freaking mess.
* More…
One potential endgame would see top lawmakers negotiating on the budget next month. Another is for the General Assembly to simply adopt a budget for less than the full budget year. They then would return to Springfield to deal with the shortage after the candidacy filing period ends in the fall and incumbents know whether they face strong opponents next year.
It could go either way at this point.
More on that partial-year plan…
Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, said lawmakers might craft a short-term budget that would cover state spending for only part of the year.
“It’s an option on the table,” Sullivan said. “Whether it’s prudent or not, I don’t know.”
* And while the clock ticks down to May 31st, the governor appears to dawdle…
House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, wasn’t sure when the process will be complete. “It is pretty much up to the governor and when he wants to call it. I think that if you were talking to him he would say he is not ready today. Are we done by the end of the week? We hope so.”
- JLP - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 9:47 am:
Have part year budgets ever been done here? I suspect there is no constitutional requirement for full year budgets, only for balanced budgets.
Of course, part year budgets only kick the can down the road for a while. And the longer the GA delays, the harder the cuts will be politically and the more draconian they will be. California’s resounding NO to tax increases has to be on every GA member’s mind.
- Ghost - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 9:54 am:
I have to say, the Hendon idea reported by Rich is not a bad compromise. The amount it leaves unaddressed is not small, but it seems more like a workable hole then a black hole. Combination of cuts and a reductions to only providing the normal pension payment may fill that up.
- Louis Howe - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:01 am:
If Democrat Legislators and Gov Quinn bungle the budget negotiations and end up with an overtime session, with all the chaos that entails, they don’t deserve re-election. It’s that simple. Passing a six month budget only extends the painful process. Why should voters continue with Democrats controlling every statewide office and the state legislature when they can’t win an argument with themselves? The Republican revival starts June 1st with an Overtime Session.
- jake - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:02 am:
I really fault the Governor for drifting into this mess. He has been stubborn where he should have been flexible, gave way suddenly on points that should have been saved as bargaining points, and overall been unclear about his priorities. He should have built on his original budget address, which was terrific, held on to the original proposal to triple the exemption, and gone all over the state to explain that this was not a simple tax increase but rather a reform where about half the people would see their taxes decrease, and only the very upper bracket would pay significantly more. This is exactly the position on taxes that Obama won on nationally, as well as in Illlinois. He should have kept the capital independent of the operating budget issues, and he should have saved the ethics package for a special session. This is tragic, because he started with a good set of winnable positions on taxes and spending, and frittered it all away. I guess being an outside reform advocate really is different from being Governor.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:06 am:
Partial budget until after filing is my bet.
- Ghost - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:08 am:
Word I lean in that direction, but I think the hendon idea may have some leggs on it.
- Anonymous45 - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:55 am:
All I have to say to the majority Party Dems is no guts…no glory…
- cover - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:57 am:
How exactly does a partial budget help matters? Even in the veto session, it will take a 3/5ths vote to pass the rest of the budget and the tax increase to pay for it. Could they wait until January, when it only takes a simple majority to pass bills, while yet more time has elapsed without the tax increase in effect, and it’s closer to the elections?
- Scooby - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 10:58 am:
Deep Thoughts:
- We don’t have a budget because Rod Blagojevich must be stopped
- We don’t have a budget because Tom Cross once tried to negotiate a capital bill with he who should not be named
- We don’t have a budget because Pat Quinn thinks we should have a budget and a capital bill instead of just a capital bill, and oh my god, the horror. HOW COULD HE THINK THAT? Will he ever have the credibility to work with the GA again?
- We don’t have a budget because Pat Quinn didn’t fumigate the government fast enough. Thankfully, although we don’t have a budget we do have a fumigation bill
- We don’t have a budget because Patrick Collins isn’t nice to people
- cassandra - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 11:53 am:
A delayed budget might give us more information to work with about how soon the economy will recover, thus potentially boosting tax receipts.
I think that this is really a struggle between the middle class, who will pay for but get little benefit from a tax increase and a lame duck governor who is being pushed by wealthy liberals and, shall we say, ethically challenged Democratic politicians to bring in a huge chunk of money to play with. The wealthy liberals don’t feel tax increases much and see corruption as simply part of the cost. The pols want the money–jobs, contracts for friends, future riches for themselves.
Oversight of the spending of these many, many new billions sought by the guv and most Dems will be done by members of the Blago bureaucracy, by and large. How ironic. A massive tax increase in the hands of 3000 Blago hacks more or less. Imagine the opportunities.
Give the middle class a break. Don’t hit us up just yet. See what happens with the economy and make decisions accordingly. We’ll know a lot more
in the fall.
- Ghost - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 12:04 pm:
Scooby
Reality thoughts:
- We dont have a budget because the GOP knows we need a trax hike, but they want to force the dems to go it alone so they can use it as a campaign point to gain seats. The GOP is more then happy to vote to spend the money, however.
Cover, a partial budget lets incumbents see if they have any real challengers; if not they are free to support the needed tax hike.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 12:16 pm:
There is no way Madigan is dumb enough to let the Repubs to the table. If they pass a partial budget, MJM and Lisa can claim the new Gov doesn’t have the leadership skills to pass his budget or commission reforms and the legalized poker is going to be a nightmare.
Why let the Repubs mess everything up when it is all there for the taking right now?
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- The Doc - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 1:11 pm:
===The wealthy liberals don’t feel tax increases much and see corruption as simply part of the cost===
Cassandra, take a breather. By your logic, wealthy conservatives, by virtue of being conservatives, feel the pain of a tax increase more severely than their liberal counterparts? C’mon.
Your solution is what - wait out the recession? What could possibly occur between now and the fall that will substantially reduce the deficit? It’s much more likely to be worse in the fall than it is better, from a revenue generation standpoint.
Unless you can wave your magic wand and cut the unemployment rate by half or more - and even then, it won’t be nearly enough.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 1:44 pm:
What could possibly occur between now and the fall that will substantially reduce the deficit?
The discovery of vast Saudi-like petroleum reserves in Coles County?:-)
- Cassandra - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 2:01 pm:
This proposed tax increase is not temporary, it’s permanent. Even if the economy gets going like crazy after the recession–and, clearly, the recession is going to end–and tax receipts increase dramatically, we’ll still be paying the extra income tax. They never go down.
Wealthy conservatives aren’t advocating for a tax increase on the middle class, I don’t believe. But no matter–wealthy folks are free to recommend amything they like. That doesn’t mean
that the rest of us have to agree with them.
The goal here should be to minimize to the greatest extent the burden of these proposals on the middle class. The Obama administration seems to understand that. Our local greedy pols do not.
- Tom Joad - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 2:07 pm:
The Republican budget solution starts to make sense the closer the deadline comes. Madigan can show AFSCME and SEIU that these unions will lose hundreds of jobs bsed on what the House wants to cut. That should back both unions off their opposition to a two tiered pension system.
Cullerton is now talking about cuts before pasage of a tax increase, as polling has shown this is what voters want.
A reduction of Medicare expansion under Blago will happen if there is no tax increase, so nothing is lost by agreeing to it now.
I think Cullerton should call the Repubs bluff and offer a deal on their three demands. The two tiered pension plan will save millions projected forward, which can justify less than a full pension payment this session.
Now is the time to start dealing.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 2:10 pm:
Wake up, GOPers, Wake up! - Bryant, Boudleaux; Bryant, Felice, and enhanced by VanillaMan
Wake up, Jim Watson, wake up
Wake up, Christine Radogno, wake up
The GOP been sound asleep
Wake up, and earn your keep
The Session’s over, it’s twelve o’clock
Illinois’ in trouble deep
Wake up Bill Black
Wake up Rutherford, well
What are we gonna tell the voters
They’re gonna be out to kill
What are we gonna tell our friends
When they get that big tax bill
Wake up Dan Brady
Wake up Carole Pankau
We told supporters that the Budget’s a win
Well baby looks like they goofed agai-ain
Wake up Tom Cross
Wake up Kirk Dillard
We wanna go home!
Wake up, Raymond Poe, wake up
Wake up, Dan Duffy, wake up
Collins wasn’t so hot
His Report didn’t have a plot
Quinn fell asleep, his goose is cooked
His reputation is shot
Wake up Sid Mathias
Wake up Larry Bomke, well
What are we gonna tell Big Michael
What are we gonna tell Big John
What are we gonna tell the Democrats
When they do another Budget con?
Wake up Dave Syverson
Just don’t wake up Chris Lauzen
Just let that [Bleeper] sleep!
- GreAt - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 3:01 pm:
Rich,
When are we going to call a spade, a spade. Every year the governor give a budget to the legislature in February. Every year the legislature waits till last ten days of session then decides to work on the budget, here’s a novel idea pay legislature for those days they work on the budget and they cannot get a raise in any fiscal year where they go into overtime!
Mr. Madigan stop trying to fire competent state workers for who hired them and pass a budget on time! Madigan no longer can blame blago, it is clear he is the problem!
- Ghost - Wednesday, May 27, 09 @ 3:37 pm:
=== This proposed tax increase is not temporary, it’s permanent====
Hendons is temporary.
=== Madigan can show AFSCME and SEIU that these unions will lose hundreds of jobs bsed on what the House wants to cut. That should back both unions off their opposition to a two tiered pension system. ====
The union will be completly unmoved by the loss of jobs and will stick to its current pension demand.
- Tom Joad - Thursday, May 28, 09 @ 8:51 am:
Well Ghost, the union members I have talked to are worried about themselves, not future employees. I don’t believe the unions will let their members be laid off to protect peope who have not been hired yet.