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Question of the day
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* You may remember this from the Senate Republican Caucus on the governor’s income tax proposal…
Without guaranteed protections for middle class families, we are opposed to the governor’s $3.4 billion tax increase.
I never did get a specific answer about what those protections might be, although they do seem to be interested in talking about it.
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
[Sen. Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods] said Pritzker has “talked a big game in terms of bipartisanship…We haven’t seen a lot of substance on that yet.”
[Sen. Don Harmon, Oak Park] however, said that if Republicans “feel they haven’t been invited yet [to negotiate on progressive income tax rates], let me invite them right now.
“No calendar is set yet; any Republican who wants to talk about the language of the rate structure or constitutional amendment should reach out to the Democratic caucus,” Harmon said.
But [Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch] cautioned Thursday that Republicans should stay out of negotiating on a progressive income tax, saying a “strong statement” against a progressive tax is the “right position, no doubt about it.”
* The Question: Should at least some legislative Republicans come to the table and try to negotiate the overall graduated income tax plan, even though they may not vote for it? Or should they totally refuse to take part and try to kill the proposal, even though they’re in the super-minority? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
picture polls
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BEER scholarships forever!
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Isabel Miller (my niece) in the Daily Egyptian a few days ago…
At Southern, beer isn’t just for drinking.
The ‘BEER,’ or the Balancing Education, Experience and Reality Scholarship is a product of a 1980’s to 1990’s SIU alumni Facebook group wanting to give back to their university.
The group, created by Craig Wilson, has 13,917 members on Facebook. Wilson created the group to research a book project and connect old friends. […]
The organizers hope to fundraise for the scholarship with a big push on the Day of Giving, an annual fundraising campaign held by the university.
That group really took off.
* And the campus’ Day of Giving was better than ever this year…
Twenty-four hours after SIU Carbondale’s third annual SIU Day of Giving, university employees were still counting up donations for the final tally.
Once all the gifts are counted, administrators expect to report over $875,000 contributed to the school by over 2,400 donors from 45 states and 10 countries, making this SIU’s biggest Day of Giving yet.
Events like SIUC’s one-day fundraising bonanza are common at universities around the country, as they seek to entice families and alumni to support their schools, just before tax time. Among Salukis, the growth in the event has been dramatic.
In 2017, the first SIU Day of Giving raised $341,000. In 2018, that jumped to nearly $480,000. This year nearly doubles that.
And the BEER scholarship?…
With about $36,000 in donations from over 800 individual donors, the BEER scholarship will become an endowed scholarship, to be awarded every year by the university, in perpetuity. The group will be recognized with a trophy from SIUC, Goldsmith said.
Man, that’s cool. It’s good to see a bit of alumni spirit back at SIUC. Let’s hope it continues to grow because that campus really needs it.
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Dueling polls in city treasurer’s race
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Melissa Conyears-Ervin’s campaign this morning…
Chicago City Treasurer candidate Melissa Conyears-Ervin holds a double-digit lead over her opponent leading into the April 2nd election. A recent poll conducted by GBA Strategies, shows 46 percent of respondents voting for Melissa compared to 36 percent voting for her opponent, increasing her vote share significantly from the primary election.
“Melissa’s calls for transparency, responsible investment, and increased access to financial institutions in underserved communities resonates with voters throughout the electorate,” said Nick Wilbat, Melissa Conyears-Ervin’s Campaign Manager. “As the only candidate who has walked in the shoes of every day Chicagoans, Melissa’s vision for the city is especially important for minority voters who are often underbanked and unbanked at a disproportionate rate.”
Melissa has received extremely strong support from African Americans, among whom she leads 70 – 14 percent. She also leads with Hispanics, a pivotal voting bloc, by 44 – 37 percent. On the heels of an endorsement from her former opponent for City Treasurer, Peter Gariepy, who won 14 percent of the vote on February 26th, Melissa holds a 53 – 29 percent lead over her opponent with Gariepy voters.
The polling memo is here.
Conyears-Ervin won first place in Round One with 44.3 percent, Pawar was second with 41.6 and Gariepy was last with 14.1.
* From Ameya Pawar’s campaign this afternoon…
Progressive candidate for City Treasurer Ameya Pawar and his opponent are in a dead heat heading into the April runoff election, a new poll shows. In a survey of likely voters conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove from March 4-7, both candidates received 34 percent of the vote with 32 percent undecided.
Key Findings
Pawar is tied with Conyears-Ervin. Both candidates hold 34% of the vote; Conyears-Ervin leads among African Americans while Pawar wins Latinos (40% Pawar / 32% Conyears-Ervin) and whites (45% Pawar / 22% Conyears-Ervin). Pawar has a 27-point lead among white women and leads on the Lakefront, the Northwest side, and the South/Southwest side.
Pawar leads among the most likely voters. Among voters most likely and most enthusiastic to turn out in this election, as judged by a combination of past voting behavior and likelihood to vote today, Pawar leads by four points (37% Pawar / 33% Conyears-Ervin). […]
The following findings are based off a survey of n=502 likely April 2019 municipal election voters conducted March 4-7, 2019. The survey’s margin of error is +4.4% and higher among subgroups.
I searched my inbox for more news on these candidates and found nothing recent. From the Google…
A vanquished candidate for city treasurer on Tuesday endorsed Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the April 2 runoff, portraying Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) as a publicity hound whose activist ideas would put Chicago taxpayers at risk.
“The city treasurer’s office is not about headlines and hashtags. … It’s not a matter of crazy ideas and personal beliefs or setting yourself up for something else,” Peter Gariepy said.
Gariepy said he is endorsing Conyears-Ervin “without reservation” and plans to spend the next four weeks helping her get elected.
…Adding… Good stuff…
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TaxSplaining
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not a great way to describe the newly proposed income tax rates…
The governor’s proposed tax rates are as follows:
• 4.75 percent for those making $0-10,000 in income
• 4.90 percent for those making $10,001-$100,000
• 4.95 percent for those making $100,001-$250,000
• 7.75 percent for those making $250,001-$500,000
• 7.85 percent for those making $500,001-$1,000,000
• 7.95 percent for those making over $1,000,000
* A decent way to describe the newly proposed rates…
• The first $10,000 in net income is taxed at 4.75 percent, resulting in a maximum $475 in income taxes.
• For the next $90,000 in income a 4.9 percent rate is applied, resulting in up to $4,410 in taxes. People claiming $100,000 a year would pay $4,885, $65 less than what they pay under the current income tax law. The average annual income in Illinois is a little more than $56,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The next $150,000 of income is taxed at 4.95 percent, which adds up to another $7,425 more in taxes. Someone claiming $250,000 a year in taxable income would owe $12,310, also $65 less than under the current law. More than 97 percent of all income tax returns filed in Illinois claim income of $250,000 or less, according to Pritzker.
• The tax rate jumps all the way up to 7.75 percent for the next $250,000 of income, which could amount to as much as $19,375 more in income taxes. People claiming $500,000 in income would owe $31,685, which is $6,935 more than what they would pay with the current flat income tax rate. […]
Retirees would not be affected because Illinois is one of the few states that doesn’t tax retirement benefits.
And etc.
* Another decent way…
The plan proposes dropping the personal tax rate for the first $10,000 of income for single and joint filers to a 4.75 percent rate; income above $10,000 to $100,000 would be taxed at 4.9 percent; income between $100,000 and $250,000 would be taxed at 4.95 percent; income between $250,001 and $500,000 would be taxed at 7.75 percent; and income from $500,001 to $1 million would be taxed 7.85 percent.
* Meanwhile, this is not a great way to explain the governor’s proposed higher corporate tax rate…
Under the new tax plan, Illinois would maintain a competitive corporate income tax rate. The proposed 7.95 percent rate, identical to its highest rate for personal income, would fall under the corporate income rates in California and Iowa. The two states levy 8.84 percent and 12 percent rates, respectively.
Wisconsin’s 7.9 percent corporate tax is just shy of Illinois’ proposed rate. New York has the lowest corporate income tax of the aforementioned states, at 6.5 percent.
* Same goes for Gov. Pritzker…
“They were paying a flat tax at 7 percent before, they’d be paying a flat tax again.”
Businesses also pay a Personal Property Replacement Tax of between 1.5 and 2.5 percent, depending on the company…
Corporations pay a 2.5 percent tax on their net Illinois income.
Partnerships, trusts, and S corporations pay a 1.5 percent tax on their net Illinois income.
So that has to be added to the corporate tax rate, bringing the newly proposed rate to between 9.45 and 10.45 percent, putting Illinois above California.
* Related…
* Unpacking Pritzker’s Tax Proposals: Retail Discount: Stores in Illinois keep a portion of what you pay in sales tax. Think of it like a collection fee, though in state government shorthand it’s called a retail discount. The amount is based on a percentage of what they collect. So the more they sell, the more they keep. Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to cap that amount to $1,000 per month for each retailer.
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Willie Wilson to back Lightfoot
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Big…
In what might prove to be a crucial decision in the race for mayor, Willie Wilson is endorsing Lori Lightfoot over Toni Preckwinkle.
Lighfoot confirmed the endorsement Friday morning at the City Club of Chicago. Wilson has scheduled a formal announcement for Friday afternoon at Chicago Baptist Institute International in the Washington Park neighborhood.
“I’m happy to have his endorsement; because I think, fundamentally, where he and I agree is the absolute urgent necessity to invest in our neighborhoods to change people’s lives, and to give them opportunity and hope. That shared value is where we have connected,” Lightfoot said.
Wilson came in fourth in total votes in the first round of the mayor’s race last month, but won the most wards of any candidate, taking 14 wards, amassing more than 50,000 votes in largely African American neighborhoods on the South and West sides. Lightfoot won 11 wards, mostly along the North Side and north Lakefront.
* Retort…
Preckwinkle accused Wilson of making his endorsement “contingent upon him receiving guaranteed clout appointments for various city commissions and departments.” She also accused him of demanding that Preckwinkle help retire the debt that remains from his self-funded mayoral campaign.
Those are promises that, Preckwinkle said, she was unwilling to make while her opponent was.
“Yet again, it seems Lightfoot is succumbing to a textbook example of pay-to-play politics, rather than looking out for Chicago’s best interests,” the Preckwinkle campaign said in a statement.
Preckwinkle’s deputy campaign manager Jason Lee was quoted as saying: “If Mr. Wilson’s endorsement can be bought, that is certainly not an endorsement that reflects the values of integrity of Toni’s campaign. And frankly, not one our campaign is interested in.”
Kinda difficult to make that stick on someone generally regarded as a reformer…
* Speaking of endorsements…
Lightfoot was endorsed by the firefighters’ union. Standing with her for that were Northwest Side aldermen Nick Sposato and Anthony Napolitano, whom Preckwinkle described as “pro-Trump Republicans and anti-immigrant alderman.” That prompted Lightfoot to accuse Preckwinkle of lying. “There’s no lie you will not tell. It is sad and pathetic.” In an interview with POLITICO, Sposato said he was surprised by Preckwinkle’s inflammatory language since she had called him last week asking for his endorsement. He and Napolitano are former firefighters who chose to stand by whomever their union endorsed. “I stick with the girl who brought me to the dance. And that was Local 2,” he said.
More…
“I’ve seen a lot of craven things happen in politics but, man, you are shameful,” Lightfoot said, before explaining that the two aldermen showed up when she was endorsed by the firefighters union. She noted she’s been “highly critical” of those aldermen.
* Speaking of Trump and back to the Wilson nod…
The Preckwinkle campaign pointed to an old tweet in which Lightfoot hit Wilson as a “proud Trump and Rauner-supporting Republican who supports horrible policies that will end up costing regular Chicagoans much much more in the long run.”
Lightfoot brushed off her earlier criticism, saying she had gotten to know Wilson during the campaign. “He’s shared lots of different issues with me, his rationale on a number of different things, and I’m happy to have his endorsement, because I think fundamentally where he and I agree is the absolute, urgent necessity to invest in our neighborhoods to change people’s lives and to give them opportunity and hope,” she said.
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Caption contest!
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of my favorite Statehouse people is WTTW’s ace reporter Amanda Vinicky, who did a fun piece recently about some famed Springfield eateries. Here she is with Maldaner’s Chef-Owner Michael Higgins eating a horseshoe…
Have fun, but keep it clean.
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The Credit Union Difference
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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* Gov. Pritzker’s proposed effective tax rate on a million dollars of annual income is 7.09 percent. Technically, it’s 7.0934746 percent, which is what we’re gonna use here. You can click here to see the math. State taxes on that million bucks would be $70,934.75, for an after-tax income of $929,065.25.
As we’ve already discussed today, at the $1,000,001 income level, the governor’s proposal would tax all income at the 7.95 percent rate. State taxes would be $79,500 for an after-tax income of $920,501. So, you’d be losing about 9 grand for that extra dollar of income. Significant.
The cutoff point above which tax avoidance wouldn’t make sense would be $1,009,305. State taxes would be $80,239.75 for an after-tax income of $929,065.25 - exactly what you would’ve paid if you made a million dollars.
Increase that income by just a dollar, to $1,009,306, and your state tax would be $80,239.83, with an after-tax income of $929,066.17 - 92 cents more than you’d have made with a million dollars in earnings. After that, the gravy gets thicker.
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Rep. Bennett involved in serious accident
Friday, Mar 8, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the House Republicans…
Last evening, Rep. Tom Bennett was involved in a serious car accident that resulted in 10 broken ribs, six in multiple places. He is currently being treated at St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, and is expected to be there for a few days. Tom is known by his House Republican colleagues as one the hardest working members of the House. In fact, after the accident he was most concerned about his legislative paperwork that was engulfed in the flames. Please keep him in your thoughts as he recovers.
Reading Rep. Bennett’s (R-Gibson City) Twitter feed is exhausting. The guy is literally everywhere in his district. He goes to every event imaginable and that is not a small district. I’m always amazed at his energy.
Get well soon, Tom!
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*** UPDATE *** I’m closing comments on this post because I did the math with a bit of help and found that the tax avoidance issue is basically a nothingburger. Click here to see the results.
* Crain’s…
The Pritzker administration unveiled the first details of its long-awaited graduated income tax, and perhaps the biggest surprise is that it contains a true millionaire tax.
Under the proposal, households making more than $1 million will see all of their income taxed at the proposed 7.95 percent rate rather than just the portion above $1 million. Higher rates kick in for those making $250,000 or more, but the higher rates are applied only to the portion above $250,000. That is, until those households hit the $1 million threshold.
* Tribune…
Madigan twice backed efforts to amend the state constitution to create a 3 percent tax surcharge on income above $1 million. He never got enough votes to put the question on the ballot, but voters in 2014 endorsed the idea by a wide margin in an advisory referendum. The 7.95 percent top rate in Pritzker’s plan matches what Illinoisans would currently pay on income above $1 million if Madigan’s idea had been adopted.
Laurence Msall, president of the nonpartisan budget watchdog Civic Federation, commended Pritzker for releasing the details of his plan. The Civic Federation does not have a position on graduated income taxes generally or Pritzker’s plan specifically, Msall said.
“Coming forward with the specificity removes a lot of the uncertainty and speculation as to what the governor and his team intends to do,” he said. “It provides a real opportunity for the state of Illinois’ policymakers to engage in a meaningful debate on the future of tax policy in Illinois.”
Msall said one of his organization’s initial concerns is that charging the 7.95 percent rate on all income for people who earn more than $1 million could lead to “very significant tax avoidance.”
* Capitol News Illinois…
But it’s the plan for the highest bracket that led Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch to call the plan a “millionaire’s tax,” which he said will drive high-income earners out of the state: When an earner hits $1 million of income, every penny they bring in would be taxed at a 7.95 percent rate.
“There’s always a need for more money, especially when you think about the fact that you’re squeezing more than $3.4 billion out of those high earners, how many are going to stick around to pay that tab?” Maisch said. “That tab then has to get pushed down the scale and we see it in other states. It always starts out as a millionaire’s tax, always ends up a tax on the middle class.”
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