* The Pat Quinn story isn’t going away yet…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich suffered a very public rejection from within his own administration Thursday as Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn disparaged the tax and health care plans that Blagojevich has made his top priority.

Calling a news conference at the state Capitol, Quinn said the governor’s proposal for a new $6 billion business tax would end up hitting “ordinary people” in the pocketbook.

“That levy would be passed on to consumers, and I don’t think that’s the right way to go,” he said.

Quinn also said expanding health care and pumping new money into schools can be done over time and doesn’t have to be accomplished immediately, as Blagojevich has proposed

* More…

Whereas Blagojevich’s plan raises nearly $7 billion by taxing businesses, Quinn prefers to empower a panel to go through state tax breaks and eliminate those deemed unneeded. He predicted that would raise nearly $2 billion in its first year. […]

Quinn said all new tax dollars from his plan would be set aside to pay for property tax relief, education spending and health care. But there would not be enough money to finance the massive expansion of health care and education Blagojevich unveiled earlier this month.

A spokeswoman for the governor’s budget office blasted Quinn’s plan as unrealistic.

“We’ve pushed for four years to close corporate loopholes. The General Assembly has consistently opposed those efforts,” said Becky Carroll. “We don’t think it’s right to ask our schools and the uninsured to wait for years for those tides to change.”

* The president of the Illinois Education Association, Ken Swanson, chimed in as well in a press release yesterday…

While we are pleased the lieutenant governor has entered the school funding discussion, his proposal is woefully inadequate.

The Illinois Education Association believes any school funding reform proposal must deliver adequate funding to public education through a revenue stream that is predictable and sustainable. The Lt. Governor’s proposal falls short on all counts. The projected revenue from this plan comes no where near the level needed to close the achievement gap in Illinois.

Thousands of students, in every part of the state, are being denied the resources necessary to get a high quality education. Changing this system demands a bold plan and that is why the Illinois Education Association supports the Gross Receipts Tax proposal. We are urging the members of the Illinois General Assembly to support this proposal.

* But just about every farm group is registering in opposition to the gross receipts tax…

Bart Bittner, spokesman for the Illinois Farm Bureau, said that regardless of their revenue, Illinois farmers will be hit hard by the tax thanks to the increased cost of supplies.

“It impacts all farms whether they generate $1 million in gross receipts or not because of the (cost) pass-on that comes from the input side of things,” he said.

Bittner said that because agriculture prices are driven in large part by commodities markets it would be difficult for producers to set their own prices to recoup their losses.

Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke said opponents of the tax are neglecting the savings that it will create, particularly in the area of health care.

* And the Daily Herald takes a look at how one aspect of the governor’s health plan would work…

As part of a sweeping health-care proposal, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to give parents the option of including children age 29 and under on their policies, rather than 19 and under.

“They are the kids that are now grown-up,” Blagojevich said earlier this month. “They’re mostly healthy, but Mom and Dad are worried, understandably so, that God forbid, something happens and they don’t have health insurance.”

Few details have been released and, at this point, it is unclear how many people would sign up or when the program would start. The only clear-cut condition is that it would apply only to families making less than $80,000. A Blagojevich spokeswoman said everyone within the age and parental income categories could be covered.

* Action for Children President: Governor’s health insurance plan must be Ok’d

* Tribune Editorial: Scale it back Governor

* Editorial: Take it slow on health care reform