Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Fox looks at “Madigoons”
Next Post: Question of the day
Posted in:
* Everybody always wants to spend more money. That’s nothing new. They even want to spend more state tax money during the greatest fiscal crisis this state has ever had. Not surprising, considering the way people are.
The Southern Illinoisan today editorialized on behalf of a bill that would divert about $500,000 a year from the sales tax on wine to benefit the state’s fledgling wine-making industry. Normally, that might be a great idea, especially considering the much-needed tourism dollars the wine industry draws to southern Illinois.
And, frankly, $500,000 ain’t a whole lot of money, so I can see why Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) could sponsor the proposal with a mostly clean conscience. Although his reaction to his bill’s defeat in the House Revenue Committee was more than a little over the top…
Bost was disappointed when his bill didn’t get out of committee Thursday, and accused state Democrats of wanting to control the state’s revenue stream.
“It’s an abuse of powers. It does not allow me to represent my district,” Bost said.
Anyway, the Southern proposed a middle ground…
But perhaps there is some area for compromise, some tweaking of the legislation that would create the wine fund without shorting the general fund.
Yep. The answer is magic money! Unless they mean raising the sales tax, which they didn’t specify.
Money has to come from somewhere. Perhaps the Southern could offer to give up its state sales tax exemptions on newsprint, ink, equipment, etc. Until then, proposing a magic money solution is not a responsible alternative.
* Meanwhile, Mayor Daley talked to reporters yesterday about the state budget. Hizzoner made it clear that cuts must come before tax hikes…
“You just can’t increase taxes and say, ‘That’s the answer,’ ” Daley told reporters. “That’s not the total answer. If you think that is, you’re kidding yourself.” […]
“You have to streamline government,” said the mayor, who has cut some spending and raised taxes and fees to balance the city’s precarious budget in recent years. “You have to look at priorities and figure out if there’s waste, inefficiency and corruption, anything, because you have to look at that.”
Daley did not offer to give up the municipal revenue sharing program, however. The mayor also said the lt. governor’s office should be kept alive…
” In the long run, you need a governor and a lt governor working together like that because there’s a responsibility when he or she is out of state, incapacitated. They can take over. It’s just like the presidency. I think they should run together.”
But he did threaten to privatize McCormick Place.
* Some more federal money? At least for a while, and for new recipients…
A White House compromise proposal on health care reform would boost funding for Illinois and other states facing newly eligible participants in their cash-strapped Medicaid programs. […]
Under the White House proposal, states would get 100% federal funding for any newly eligible Medicaid participants for four years, from 2014 to 2017, with 95% reimbursement in the following two years and 90% after that. Normally, the federal government reimburses half of Medicaid expenditures in Illinois, although that was boosted temporarily by last year’s stimulus program.
“It gives states plenty of time to adjust to these new responsibilities and gives them additional financing pretty much forever,” Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said in a conference call for reporters.
However, the summary of the proposal didn’t address other details that concern some Illinois hospitals, such as the schedule for phasing out additional Medicaid payments they get for treating an above-average number of Medicaid patients.
* Chicago Tonight hosted a long discussion about the state budget last night. Have a look…
* Related…
* Illinois not expecting budget crisis to extend to personal tax refunds
* Budget crisis means a pay cut for some county officials
* 9 laid off in UI facilities department
* Naperville considers joining push for statewide pensions: The state Constitution outlaws diminishing employee benefits, but [Assistant City Manager Dan] DiSanto said one option would be for the state to create a second tier of benefits for new hires.
* Tryon Legislation to Bring Transparency to State Budget
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:02 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Fox looks at “Madigoons”
Next Post: Question of the day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
If you put the wine issue in context of “the horse racing industry”, I can see why Bost is ticked.
Spending money like this attracts more people to the trough.
Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:13 am
Mayor Daley calling for spending cuts is an admission of how bad the situation is in Illinois. Interesting article on the state of California here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/02/22/MNJ71BUILC.DTL. I would like to see a similar analysis for IL - how much of the IL budget is mandatory.
One thing we know for certain, the forecast calls for pain.
Comment by (Formerly) Angry Republican Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:13 am
The only defense of the Wine funding is that according to the University of Illinois…
“As of 2004, 63 Illinois wineries, working with 193 grape arbors, produce 451,079 U.S. gallons (1.7 million liters) of wine annually with an annual total positive economic impact estimated at $20 million.”
I can’t find the source of his statistic but in a conversation with St. Rep Bost I was told that for every $1 invested in the Southern Illinois Wine trail there has been a ROI of $17. If that is the case I can understand his frustration.
The Southerns editorial stance does not surprise me, I have grown to not expect much from my local paper, and that is unfortunate. I could say more but I don’t want to be too critical, they barely have a staff left over there as it is, the people of Southern Illinois are probably not far from not have a daily regional paper at all. just sayin.
Concerning Daley and his cutting spending and streamlining government talk. Sounds more conservative all the time, maybe there is hope for the Mayor after all.
Comment by Moving to Oklahoma Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:22 am
Ok. So Quinn is using the delay in budget address to test public sentitment, let the public anger have a chance to play itself out and let the public accept a tax increase as inevitable or “the only way out of fiscal crisis”, get as many people/organizations on board with pitching the “we need a tax increase” in front of the media so that it looks like independent non-political organization, e.g., Civic Federation, are proposing it and not just him. hmmm…not a bad plan. it might work. quinn is trying to soften the blow and then ride in with a compromise pitch when he actually delivers his budget.
then mayor daley comes along, who plans to run for re-election himself early next year. He weighs in, in his own political self-interest trying to look like mr. fiscal integrity/responsibility, that spending cuts must come before a tax increase.
I hope he would be okay with funding/pork for Chicago getting cut most.
We all know that the City of Chicago has a powerful lobbying operation down in Springfield.
That is exactly what Pat Quinn should do, he should cut whatever monies Chicago gets from the state to 10-20 percent max.
Something tells me that Pat Quinn won’t do this, eventhough it would be the right thing to do.
Mayor Daley is facing a HUGE budget deficit of his own later this year, and no real way out.
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:23 am
Part of the rhetoric against an income tax increase is that families just can’t afford to pay it. I went to the IL House Gop website where they have a “Tax Increase Calculator.” Granted this is from last year but I thought it would give a ballpark idea of what kind of increase we are talking about. I put in the median income for a family of four in Illinois — $71,000 — and a family size of four and it says the increase would be $225 which comes out to $18.75 per month.
Looking at these actual numbers seems, to me, to take the wind out of much of that rhetoric. $18.75 per month for a family of four? This is why we are now at the verge of statewide collapse?
Here is the link to the calculator:
http://www.ilhousegop.org/2009/03/19/real-money-what-would-gov-quinns-50-income-tax-increase-mean-to-you/
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:30 am
It is a new age.
We have reached an economic crisis too big to handle the traditional way.
We are broke, and if we were a business, we would have folded 15 years ago. Not because of a lack of profit - Illinois can’t even live paycheck to paycheck.
So shut up about how this or that awesome great idea just has to be done. It can’t. It is over. Don’t try to claim that we’ll make money by spending money. Don’t claim we’ll get Fed money if we spend money, because the Fed is also broke.
Look at history, and you will discover that Illinois has gone through economic circumstances worse than this has been so far. There were times when Illinois couldn’t spend money even when it needed to spend money.
The world didn’t end. The world won’t end this time either.
But we will lose our future if we keep doing what we have been doing over the past decade. We need leadership interested in rebuilding Illinois, not building new monuments to themselves in Illinois.
Set priorities. Fix what is broken. There is no extra money. There is no free money. Elect people who understand this. Throw out the ones that do not.
Good intentions do not justify bankrupsy, especially after you are bankrupted.
It is time Illinois starts living like it is 2010, not 1910 when we were one of the manufacturing centers of the Earth. It is time we educate our children like it is 2010, not 1910 when they just needed a high school education and punctuality. It is time Illinois government acts like it has no money in 2010 or it will have no money in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 0r even 2020.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:38 am
Did you never drink that So. Ill wine? Its terrible. Its bad beyond description. I don’t know where that $17 ROI comes from but it can’t be from people actually buying that stuff.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:52 am
This is a good time to end the stipends for county officers. Theit jobs require them to work with the State to carry out their functions. Then they get thousands of dollars from the state to do that same work in addition to their local paycheck. This was a scam from the start!
Comment by Tom Joad Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:54 am
Bill, didn’t you read the editorial? According to the Southern it’s “award-winning and delectable wines of Southern Illinois.”
Now, I’m not gonna dis the wine guys, but I only usually drink it at the State Fair. Last year, three of us sought shelter in the wine bldg. during the tornado. It wasn’t bad, considering that there were no other options at that moment.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:55 am
I am not a wine drinker, but I can see cars multiple other states drive by my house ever weekend all spring, summer, and fall to spend money on the wine trail. I thinks part of Bost’s proposal was to fund research to help grow more pallatable grapes in our Illinois cliamate. If you think it is a bad idea, people once said that no one would buy California wine. Times are tough and the money may just not be there, but the concept is good.
Comment by the Patriot Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:56 am
Privatizing McCormick Place is a great idea if the buyer would assume the outstanding bonds. I don’t think it would attract more shows, unless the buyer can make Chicago warmer in the winter or reverse the clear downward slope of the convention industry.
Of course, if McCormick Place is privatized, I’m sure Mayor Daley has no problem reducing the taxes on hotels, restaurants, taxis, rental cars, etc. that currently back the bonds. He wouldn’t have any other plans for that money, would he?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 10:57 am
I find it interesting that people are talking about cutting the budgets, particularly when they talk about cutting back to 2007 levels. Most I talk to in state governemnt (grants and purchase of service) have not only had their budgets cut back to 2007 levels, but those 2007 levels had been frozen for two years, meaning they are actually at 2005 levels. At the 2005 levels, most had very little increase from 2000 - 2005, no pay increases, not even increases to cover expenses. So, what does Dailey and the others propose to cut. So far the state has punished social services, social welfare, without touching schools or medicaid. I say, cut schools 20%, and stop paying for non-mandated medicaid funding. Then change the pension system for new hires. Then raise taxes. The schools have nothing to worry about, because any cut to them will just be transfered from state reimbursement to property tax increases. The schools will only lose for a year or so, then make up for more than that like they always do.
Comment by fredformeranon Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:04 am
Mayor Daley (R-Chicago), spreading the gospel of cuts and privatization. It’s of great comfort that us city residents have such a dogmatic fiscal watchdog.
Each time I see an item akin to the wine-sales tax debate, I picture Gov. Quinn, in an effort to satisfy the vocal constituencies and special interests, playing whack-a-mole with the purse strings. MAP grants shortfall? Here’s a cool $200 million from…somewhere. Mass transit revenue lacking? Let’s borrow some more while hamstringing the CTA from increasing fares, even modestly.
There’s little reason to believe it will get better in advance of November.
Comment by The Doc Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:06 am
When they find the magic money, they should use it to send some of Illinois’ award-winning “winemakers” to France so they can find out what they’re trying to do.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:33 am
It might not be a revenue shortage issue on why Bost’s bill is not being called. Perhaps it’s because the bill is unconstitutional.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:39 am
Actually, there is something of a precedent in the corn, soybean, beef, etc check off programs. If the winemakers want to build a joint fund for research and promotion, it could be funded by a surcharge of a few cents per bottle sold. The other commodity groups vote this on themselves and the program is administered through the department of ag if I’m not mistaken. No magic money, but a tiny bit of shared sacrifice,
Comment by San Juan Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:41 am
I didn’t know southern IL made wine. I knew western IL did over in the Nauvoo region. It’s not bad, comparative with the Iowa wines I’ve tried over in the Amanas. Shipping the southern IL vintners to France probably wouldn’t help as I doubt they are attempting to make French wines. The Concord and Catawba grapes that grow in this climate are appropriate for making sweet wines, not Chardonnay. The good ones, realize this and also make a variety of overly-sweet fruit wines as well which will sell to that palate.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 11:53 am
I think i read yesterday that the house dems are not yet signed on to quinn’s tax increase. is that true? is there any chance they will anytime soon?
Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 12:13 pm
Gee Bill. Just because you had some nasty stuff doesn’t mean it is all swill. We had a really nice white wine from So. Ill a few months ago that I will buy again. Give it a chance!
Comment by girllawyer Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 12:22 pm
“It wasn’t bad, considering that there were no other options at that moment.”
Res ipsa loquitur.
Comment by JonShibleyFan Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 12:27 pm
Any chance Bost and the Southern would support tapping into the Coal Marketing Fund to cover the costs of marketing Illinois wine?
Yeah, I didn’t think so. How about a tax on Illinois whiners? That could raise some big bucks.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 12:31 pm
The Sun-Times screwed up their analysis yesterday.
They said:
Illinois’ 3 percent rate is among the lowest in the country. In Iowa, it’s 8.98 percent. In Wisconsin, it’s 6.75 percent.
They left out the fact that both states are among the majority with a PROGRESSIVE income tax. The numbers they give are the MAXIMUM rates. In Iowa, the rate for the lowest bracket is less than 1%.
Makes one consider that the “respected” advocates for a hike in the flat income tax, rather than showing “courage” and “leadership” may be carrying water for the rich elites, who are most concerned about a progressive tax.
Comment by Rambler Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 12:35 pm
Look, government leaders talk privatization when there are unpleasant things that need to be done (see raising parking meter rates) and they don’t want their personal fingerprints on them.
Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 1:04 pm
===Look, government leaders talk privatization when there are unpleasant things that need to be done===
Agreed Steve, but I would add parenthetically (see reduced future pension obligation). Changing the public employees pension system is certainly unpleasant but clearly necessary. The federal government discovered this in the 1980s. When will Illinois?
I’m no fan of the mayor, but LAZ Parking employees have social security and 401Ks. City Revenue employees have the Municipal Employees Pension. Privatization of certain government functions makes sense considering the situation we have with underfunded pension plans and no solution in sight.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 1:10 pm
We may be out of money, but we’ve got magic beans in abundance this year.
Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 1:24 pm
Much of the time I have lots of problems with what Mike Bost does (little or nothing), but I must say the wine trail is a great draw here. And quite a good time on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Comment by SIUPROF Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 1:51 pm
Bill,
your not supposed to drink it! So Il wine is for cleaning your battery posts.
My first exp with So IL wine was when some former SIU folks were pushing me to try it. I did. I was surprised to find something worse then Boones Farm, and at more then twice the price.
Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 2:08 pm
Good wine, bad wine, it depends on the grapes, the microclimate, the vintner, the vintage, and a whole lot more, including the tastes of the consumer.
Research dollars would help the area produce better wines more consistently. promotion dollars would attract people to drive the trial and find the wines they like.
And southern Illinois does produce some good wines.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 2:38 pm
With respect to cutting the budget, as mentioned above, the cutting has been going on for years. What is needed now is for some bright staffer to pull together a list of cuts already made so Quinn can come out and say, “The cuts have been made, here is a list showing the billions saved. We’ve probably cut too deep in some places like Corrections and highway maintenance. We need to increase income tax to cover the services everyone expects to receive.” He could then refer people to the House Republican’s calculator to see that the impact would be manageable.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 2:44 pm
If the $17 ROI on “wine trail” investment were true, the industry wouldn’t NEED state money because investors would be lining up to invest their money!
I’ve only had Southern Illinois wine once.
It ain’t French quality wine.
It ain’t Italian quality wine.
It ain’t even California quality wine.
Think Carlo Rossi in a gallon bottle from Jewel.
By the way, the U of I angst over letting 9 people go with “only” 1270 workers left in the maintenance department is ludicrous.
I’ve worked with that department down there, and they’ve got so many patronage empires and political turfs that an efficiently run operation down there could probably get the job done with a 300 person reduction.
One thing in the story really was revealing.
It said that a laid off carpenter was given a job as an electrician because of union rules, despite lack of qualifications.
That speaks volumes about why we need meaningful public labor reform in Illinois.
Comment by PalosParkBob Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 3:44 pm
Mayor Daley calling for cuts in wasteful spending before tax increases is a little rich.
Comment by Chicago Dem Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 4:17 pm
I am a bit late to the wine debate.
A few points:
1. The wine growers seem to have been pretty successful already. They have gleaned much of the public and private information already available to get them where they are.
2. If every entrepreneurial interest group needed to feed at the public trough or depend on publicly funded research to grow their industries, we’d be in a heck of a fix. And we are already. Look at the U of I Extension Service. There are plenty of entrepreneurs that have pulled themselves up by their own grit and vinegar.
3. Illinois wine growers need to pool their resources with wine growers in several of the border states — S.Indiana, S.Missouri, and Kentucky. Every state does not need to separately fund its own wine research program. The climatic and soil conditions are not that variable among these states.
4. The wine growers can start their own check off fund instead of drawing revenues from the sales taxes. This has been done with many other agricultural commodities.
And if that rep. does not think he can represent his district because a committee wouldn’t let him have the ball, maybe some districts down there need to consolidate to save the taxpayers some money on salaries and pensions. That sounds like a good Republican solution that would be in keeping with their proposals to cut the budget.
Comment by vole Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 5:05 pm
{“It gives states plenty of time to adjust to these new responsibilities and gives them additional financing pretty much forever,” }
First; where do they think the money is going to come from in the first place? Who do they think they are kidding?
Next; nothing lasts forever, and the temporary subsidy which would quickly become unsustainable in the long run, would only allow the pirates in the legislature to plunder the booty somewhere else; like they did with the pension funds all these years.
Comment by Quinn T. Sential Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 7:31 pm
Everyone is piling on the Southern Illinois wine, and I think it has more to do with people disliking Southern Illinois than having any experience with the wine itself. To Bill and Ghost, I would be happy to set both of you up with hotel rooms in Carbondale and show you around the area. It really is a beautiful place to live, and the wine is actually pretty good.
Comment by Moving to Oklahoma Tuesday, Feb 23, 10 @ 8:53 pm