85 Comments - Da Big Bad Wolf - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:06 am: Doesn’t Trump have better things to do, like recommend more Covid-19 cures? - levivotedforjudy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:06 am: Blame it on just being called up to the big show, but you could see as soon as he did it that Harmon threw a hanging curve ball that was due to be blasted. - Ole' Nelson - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:07 am: Aren’t states “too big to fail”? - NotRich - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:08 am: It was not the best move by the young Senate President.. grasping at straws, trying to be relevant, show his caucus that he was “trying”. Unfortunately, there were numerous mistakes in his decision making. Not sharing with his caucus was mistake #1. Asking for Federal help in relation to the pension debt was BIG MISTAKE #2. Getting federal help would have done good for the bottom line of the budget, and possibly free up money to make the ramp payment.. his letter has given the opposition all the fuel they need.. withdraw the letter, but it really is too late now - The Dude Abides - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:10 am: Hey I know, let’s make Illinois amend their Constitution so that they can then cut retired workers pensions./s - Bruce (no not him) - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:11 am: I thinbk retracting a letter is a bit like the whole barn door, horse thing. He opened that door and the President and others are happy to walk right in. - Grace - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:12 am: The States will be bailed out, pensions and all. This is just part of the dance Trump must go through to appease his conservative base and try to pin the spending onto the Democratic Party. - @misterjayem - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:12 am: “now do you see why I asked y’all whether Harmon should retract that letter?” I do. But do you believe that any of this would have been avoided with a retraction (as opposed to his never sending it in the first place)? To my cynical mind, it seems that all of this would have followed regardless of whether or not Harmon retracted his ill-considered letter. And I don’t say that as any kind of defense of Harmon — a senior legislative leader should understand the heightened risk of such things, especially in this disingenuous and hyper-partisan time. Harmon knows you can’t un-ring a bell. He should have acted accordingly. – MrJM - RuralKing - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:12 am: I think that all states should get some federal $$ for the economic losses due to the COVID-19 shutdown, but how to do it “fairly” is pretty darned impossible to figure out. Those states that are beginning to re-open their economies versus those that remain locked down…how to fairly distribute? Seems there needs to be a blueprint like the Whitehouse Phase Program perhaps so that states that follow are allowed to access funds if they follow those guidelines or surpass them and the states that issue more stringent guidelines would get less money. No easy answers, but states need to show a willingness to help themselves before federal $$ is released. - Grandson of Man - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:15 am: It should be noted that it’s alotta nerve of Haley and Trump to criticize Illinois on debt and bailouts, as federal deficits have exploded under Trump, so many red states are net takers of federal dollars and the big no-strings bailout to farmers because of Trump’s trade war. How many bankruptcies does Trump have? Agree that we should keep pensions out of it, but states need the money. As Gov. Cuomo just said, think of cops, firefighters, teachers, etc, and not “bailouts.” - ChicagoVinny - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:15 am: These red states without income taxes like TX and FL will probably sing a different tune when their sales tax receipts crater. - Sonny - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:15 am: Trump is going to give the Dems the White House and Senate with this nonsense. This is a distraction but these guys lacking for any new ideas to help American, zero leadership and are currently crashing through the basement floor into the abyss with no way out except an economic rebound with large segments of the American workforce out of jobs and sick. - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:16 am: Only one state had the chutzpah to ask the Federal government for a 10 billion dollar pension bailout. In exchange they are willing to reform absolutely nothing - Chambanalyst - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:16 am: Still struggling to understand the reasoning behind Harmon’s letter. Nothing wrong with asking for some help in these times, but the scope and contents of his ask makes it really hard to come off as a sincere and practical request. Not only that, I’m afraid it may marginally diminish our actual requests for help, because everything is so polarized nowadays. - Lake County Mom - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:17 am: Perhaps the next time southern coastal states get hit with a hurricane, instead of being given federal funds, they should hold a bake sale. - TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:17 am: ===But now do you see why I asked y’all whether Harmon should retract that letter?=== In the big picture, I’m glad it was done. Like it or not, lines are being drawn and reputations for some areas are being solidified that will last generations. - 32nd warder - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:18 am: i guess we know what this week’s distraction from the crisis at hand is. this president is very good at deflecting and changing the story. i wish the media would stop falling for it. - Nick Name - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:20 am: Harmon’s letter was tone-deaf and ill-timed. That said, regarding the “bailing out blue states” horse hockey, Pritzker should take a page from Gov. Cuomo’s book and go on the attack. Illinois, along with New York, is one of ten “donor states.” Eight of those ten donor states are blue. So it is blue states that literally bail out red states like South Carolina, Florida, and McConnell’s Kentucky year after year after year. it’s an election year. Make Republicans regret that they made an issue out of Harmon’s dumb letter. - Nick Name - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:21 am: *sorry, nine donor states - Eddie Munster - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:22 am: Governors Call For $500 Billion To States Even After Top Republicans Say No https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/04/11/governors-call-for-500-billion-to-states-even-after-top-republicans-say-no/#2a9ffebb6248 The latest move from Republicans came even as the National Governors Association on Saturday issued a bipartisan call for Congress to address the fiscal toll the coronavirus is taking on states. Governors Larry Hogan of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York, who serve as chairman and vice-chair of the association, both called for an additional $500 billion in federal funding to state and local governments, warning that widespread business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have already “resulted in catastrophic damage to state economies.” - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:24 am: People pay taxes, not states. If I, an Illinois resident, am sending too much money to the federal govt, I’ll happily accept a refund of the difference. - Blue Dog Dem - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:25 am: All states should get proportionate help. With strings attached..why should excessive pensions be rewarded. And yes, someone making $100k/yr pension should not get an AAI. IMO. - Dutch - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:26 am: I think maybe it is time to have this debate about state funding from the feds (as the health crisis starts to wain that is). If the funding formulas were different and more equal (and it would be a massively complex undertaking to equalize each state), then maybe Illinois doesn’t have a pension crisis at all. It certainly is something that should be at least analyzed and debated. - XDNR - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:29 am: That from the Divider in Chief who has declared bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009 on his hotel and casino businesses. - Flapdoodle - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:29 am: Pointing out that blue states subsidize red states, many in the south, should happen, but don’t expect it to have much effect — it’s expecting a little too much of the Trumpista brain to process an actual fact. Wonder what office Haley is beginning to campaign for. - SAP - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:32 am: ==IL pays more than it’s fair share.== Bad grammar just takes me right off the tracks and distracts me from what the writer is trying too say. Fewer and fewer people seem to get bothered by it, but it’s a major pet peeve of mine. Rant over. - Ares - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:34 am: Pensions can and should be taxed. Every company making huge profits from the pandemic (Amazon, etc.) should be paying Federal taxes, not move $$ to foreign tax havens, and agree to not request HQx subsidies. If they refuse, boycott ‘em. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:35 am: === Pensions can and should be taxed.=== Show me the votes on the stairs and the Governor backing it. - DownStater - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:44 am: LP: “Only one state had the chutzpah to ask the Federal government for a 10 billion dollar pension bailout.” The State did not ask for this. Senate President Harmon did. Nobody thinks that the Speaker speaks for the whole state. Nor does the Senate President. Harmon messed up. The Governor speaks for Illinois on this. - Wylie Coyote - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:44 am: Fiscal disaster. Natural Disaster. Pandemic Disaster. A disaster is a disaster - give me the money! s//Donnie Harmon - thunderspirit - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:45 am: == I agree with that position, by the way. == As do I, for whatever that’s worth. I also agree with MrJM that a retraction by Senate President Harmon would accomplish nothing, and the better course of action was to not send such a letter in the first place. Harmon is usually brighter than that. This was a colossal gaffe on his part. - The Dude Abides - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:46 am: You’ll very likely never see pensions taxed. Retired people vote in larger numbers than other age groups. It would take a lot of political courage, something our politicians haven’t been known for. - PJ - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:48 am: It’s so weird how you don’t hear the same refrain from Republicans when Florida or Texas gets battered by a hurricane. Shouldn’t they have known natural disasters were coming and “saved for a rainy day”? No more bailouts for them, right? - @misterjayem - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:51 am: “All states should get proportionate help. With strings attached..why should excessive pensions be rewarded.” Why should low-tax states be rewarded for their failure to fund their states’ preparation for and response to this pandemic? As Rich has observed, everyone has their own priorities. – MrJM - illinifan - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:52 am: I agree with the way Cuomo phrased it today, focus on helping with the excess state and local government expenses for funding the firefighters, EMT, teachers and medical workers. We also need to include other essential staff. Maybe another way to phrase it is help offset the loss of tax revenues due to the virus. If help is provided for these losses we can continue to work our way out of our other financial issues. Naturally the taker states don’t want to focus on the help they receive which helps to contribute to lower property taxes. Another option is just to have the Federal government suspend the state transfer of funds to the funds for a couple of years. - 44th - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:53 am: While this all plays out, the state should focus on near term fed funds like getting the Gig unemployment flowing and the LOL PPP program for small businesses. - Nick Name - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:54 am: Good response by Pritzker. - Boone's is Back - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:57 am: Harmon opened the door for this easy partisan potshot. Leaders need to be careful about how they couch requests like this. This was a novice move and he should have seen the political implications of his request. - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:58 am: A lecture from JB Pritzker, who has not missed an opportunity in every interview to bash the Federal Government ” to avoid his instincts to make this a partisan issue and do what’s right for the country.” - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:59 am: All I know is my hometown is going to make out like a bandit when the state pays back the excess money we sent to the state. - ChicagoVinny - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:04 pm: Given real interest rates on 30 year treasuries are negative, while it might not be politically possible, it would make a lot of sense for the federal government to borrow and just shovel money to the states right now. - pc - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:07 pm: “These red states without income taxes like TX and FL will probably sing a different tune when their sales tax receipts crater.” Florida relies on sales taxes for 85% of its total revenue! https://floridataxwatch.org/Research/Full-Library/ArtMID/34407/ArticleID/18770/2019-How-Florida-Compares-Taxes - Roman - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:09 pm: Blue State bail out? There’s a Red State bail out pretty much every year. Kentucky’s per capita pension debt is almost as bad as Illinois. And 40 percent of their annual state operating budget is paid for with federal funds. If the feds picked up 40 percent of our budget every year we wouldn’t have a pension problem. - Moody's Blues - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:11 pm: Authors of “donor states” lists like to talk about their results more than about the underlying methodology. Think about where and why Washington spends within the states. There are outlier states and exceptions to my generalization but: Much of this federal money isn’t going into the pockets of taxpayers in these states. The biggest reason for the anomaly is defense spending, much of it on military bases whose personnel consume vast local government services (education, infrastructure, etc.) but that don’t reciprocate by paying local and state taxes. So taxpayers in those states heavily subsidize the federal presence. Notice how you hear about “donor states” from politicians and activists but never from economists? When economists hear someone railing about “donor states,” they wink at one another, murmur “How unjust!” and go back to work. - Back to the Future - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:16 pm: One good thing for Downstate Police and Firefighter Pension Funds in this economic mess is that they did not transfer their local taxpayer and Public Safety workers money to the Pritzker Boards yet. The losses following the Pritzker mandated recommendations would have been a huge hit to local taxpayers. - Norseman - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:20 pm: I concur with MrJM @ 11:51, but it’s a moot point. The Senate is controlled by the small states. I’d like to hear the GOP congressionals advocating for money. They’ll get their stupid shot about pensions, but they should be pushing back aggressively against not giving IL Covid help. Of course, they will namby-pamby there way around the issue to not get crossways with their dear leader and McConnell. While Harmon created a PR faux pas for the Dems, GOP congressional silence will harm IL taxpayers. To me, that is the greater harm to Illinoisans. - Rich Miller - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:23 pm: ===to bash the Federal Government === You may be mistaking the federal government for the president. There is a difference. - Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:25 pm: Well, maybe the president shouldn’t have commuted the sentence of a democrat governor that destroyed our states finances, eh? - Arock - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:28 pm: The argument that Illinois doesn’t get back as much as many states from the Federal government has a lot of variables in the equation that factor into the whole equation. And those of you that support the supposed Fair Tax should see the consequences of that thinking when it comes to reimbursement to the state from the Federal government. Maybe we are seen as one of those rich income states that needs to send their tax dollars to a less fortunate state that needs it more so they don’t have to pay as much in taxes and receive the same services. - the Patriot - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:33 pm: This is not asking for the State to be bailed out. It is asking for the Democrats to be bailed out. Madigan has spent us into a death roll with deficit spending and high taxes he used to pay off legislators and maintain power. Now he wants the Feds to pay the debt so they can start over and just keep buying power? Makes no sense. I also hope the Feds take the same approach to companies that were on deaths door 6 months ago. We bail out companies that were about to implode, the execs pocket cash and they go under anyway. Pretty much what Dems are wanting IL to do. I am curious where Pelosi and Biden stand on an IL bailout. If they won’t do it if Trump loses, then its not really a Trump issue. - OpentoDiscussion - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:36 pm: =The Dude Abides - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 11:10 am: Hey I know, let’s make Illinois amend their Constitution so that they can then cut retired workers pensions./s= I assume you were jesting. If not read the U.S. Constitution Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1. - Senator Blutarsky - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:38 pm: Does anyone have any analysis of the numbers Jake Lewis posted? It’s all fine and dandy to look at the net totals, but understanding why those numbers are the way they are would be more helpful than the approach he took. For instance, Florida may have more people living on fixed incomes with larger proportions of that income coming from non-taxable sources. Would also like to see what the breakdown of federal monies into each state is like. Otherwise, we are simply shouting about fairness, which is noise, not analysis. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:40 pm: === Madigan=== Please, wear a mask if you’re going to mouth breath. Thompson, Edgar, Ryan, Blagojevich, Quinn… President Phillip, Speaker Daniels, President Rock… Thanks. - Telly - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:46 pm: Don’t forget that the second federal rescue package gave the Federal Reserve Board $4.5 trillion to dole out in low-interest and zero-interest loans to private companies, with few strings attached. That’s trillion with a “T.” I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest companies with poor financial practices (just like Illinois’) are gonna get some of that cash. Why can’t state pension funds refinance some of their debt with that cash? Public pension funds are as damaged as any company is by coronavirus-related stock market losses — maybe more so. Boeing stock holders deserve protection, but retired pension annuitants don’t? - Grandson of Man - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:49 pm: It could be a very hot rail for certain Republicans to throw the public sector under the bus. Their big funders are right wing billionaires, so they have to at least say the talking points. There have been teacher strikes and protests in red states like Kentucky, which helped the Democrat win the governor’s seat. The public sector has many workers in the front lines of the coronavirus fight, risking their lives and families for us, and many working to get people vital needs as the economy gets slammed. Drastic cuts are not a place Republicans should go to right now. - Huh? - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 12:53 pm: Can’t the ILGOPers see that this antic should come back and bite them this fall? How they going to campaign against someone who pulls this out and beats them with “When Illinois was hurting, the ILGOP did everything in its power to double down on the pain.” - Proud Sucker - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:08 pm: ===The biggest reason for the anomaly is defense spending, much of it on military bases whose personnel consume vast local government services (education, infrastructure, etc.) but that don’t reciprocate by paying local and state taxes. So taxpayers in those states heavily subsidize the federal presence.=== My family’s personal experience doesn’t track with this. Bases and posts are essentially autonomous. They either have their own water/waster water facilities or they pay the local muni/water district as would any other customer. They also maintain their own streets and buildings or contract with local firms to so do. There could be some negative impact on schools. When my wife was very young, they lived on-base and went to local schools, but when my father-in-law was promoted to O3 after hes last tour in Vietnam, they purchased a house off-base and paid property taxes. Which they continued for the next 10 years into his retirement. - Lucky PIerre - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:08 pm: JB accused the Federal government of incompetence for failing to deliver 4,000 ventilators on March 31st. He was told by Vice President Pence he would not need that many and JB mocked him. Currently there are 1,244 Illinois patients on ventilators. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-pritzker-cnn-trump-federal-government-20200405-23skyub3wvbrtkuc6cnl4m4jaa-story.html - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:18 pm: === JB accused the Federal government of incompetence for failing to deliver 4,000 ventilators on March 31st. He was told by Vice President Pence he would not need that many and JB mocked him. Currently there are 1,244 Illinois patients on ventilators.=== Thank goodness social distancing is helping, as Drs. Fauci and Birx point out. Anyone pointing out success that we never needed things is making a political point, and not too interested with the medical situations in real time. - Demoralized - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:27 pm: OW: As Rich admonished us to ingore anonymous commenters I think we should further admonish ourselves to ignore the likes of LP. He’s just as bad as the anonymous commenters. Unserious. Does drive bys. He should be relegated to the trash heap as such. - Chicago 20 - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:29 pm: Trump has made it clear. The States are on their own. Illinois should suspend paying any Federal taxes until we get our own house in order. - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:35 pm: ==The state of Illinois sends more taxpayer dollars to Washington than it receives each every year== Jordan, states don’t pay taxes, people do. - Back to the Future - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:36 pm: I think the ventilators were part of a much bigger puzzle. Right now it looked like a good idea at the time. I have no doubt that some mistakes are going to happen, but I think we should let this emergency play out before spending a lot of time playing gotcha. - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:42 pm: ==Illinois should suspend paying any Federal taxes until we get our own house in order.== Now that the state is somehow intercepting federal withholdings from my employer paycheck, make sure the state sends that extra money directly back to me. It’s my money, not theirs. Because… States don’t pay taxes, people do. - Nickstater - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:43 pm: Yeah, Atlantic and Gulf Coast Hurricanes are just like Illinois giving Carol Ronen 30 grand a year for the six weeks she supposedly worked for Blago. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:45 pm: === States don’t pay taxes, people do.=== For someone who complains about the taxes, you seem cool with the Feds taking yours… but not using it to help your state… Good times, lol - Kelly - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:53 pm: Best possible move by Trump. If he bails out blue states, who’ve mismanaged their finances for decades, he’ll never be reelected. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:55 pm: === Best possible move by Trump. If he bails out blue states, who’ve mismanaged their finances for decades, he’ll never be reelected.=== Forget Kentucky, and McConnell will be in trouble back home too… - Practical Politics - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 1:57 pm: Another disappointing response from the Pritzker administration which cannot resist engaging in partisanship as is its custom. The misleading response completely sidesteps the issue of Illinois failing to fund its pensions for decades and leaves the casual reader with the false impression that the pension crisis is a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Governor, you need to do better. - dan l - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:07 pm: ===Best possible move by Trump. If he bails out blue states, who’ve mismanaged their finances for decades, he’ll never be reelected.=== Seems like an important thing to be concerned about when you’ve got a 50k body count on your hands. - Demoralized - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:13 pm: ==Best possible move by Trump== He’s the President of the United States. Not the President of Red States. - No Longer A Lurker - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:16 pm: No doubt Harmon’s letter was a major gaffe. On the other hand his mention of pension debt was enough bait for Mitch to chew on so perhaps you might find the following reading interesting. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/why-mitch-mcconnell-wants-states-go-bankrupt/610714/ - Streamwood Retiree - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:18 pm: =Granson of Man= Don’t you know that according to the (R) gospek that cops, firefighters, teachers, etc are useless drones feeding at the public trough? And that their functions can be done cheaper and better by privatizing them to “select” companies? i.e. companies that Republican politicians either own or said politicians are owned by? - JS Mill - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:32 pm: =In exchange they are willing to reform absolutely nothing= Tier 2 costs the state nothing. The Tier 2 roles are growing by the day. That happened in 2011. As OW always says, try to keep up. To the post…. Let me get this straight, the self proclaimed “King of Debt” whose tax cut package will add $2.3 Trillion in debt (roughly 16 times the current Illinois debt) in just a few years is commenting on Illinois debt? As usual, Trump is tone deaf. As is the GOP. And then there is the issue of bailing out southern states every time they get a storm….. - Norseman - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:41 pm: === Jordan, states don’t pay taxes, people do. === Cutesy, but accurate. Let me try one. States will not suffer the consequences from the GOP failure to provide financial assistance, people will. - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:52 pm: ==you seem cool with the Feds taking yours… but not using it to help your state== About as cool as the state taking mine, but not using it to help my city. ==Tier 2 costs the state nothing.== Until it does. The state has plenty of time to enhance Tier 2 pension benefits. They already did for police and fire. At one time, Tier 1 service accrual was 1.5 for every year worked (now 2.2), final 10 salary years were used in pension calculation (now 4), 1.5% simple interest AAI (now compounded 3%), counting unused sick days as pensionable time, etc. The state has a long history of pension enhancements. I have no reason to doubt that won’t continue. - Demoralized - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:56 pm: ==now 2.2== It is not 2.2 - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 2:58 pm: === About as cool as the state taking mine, but not using it to help my city.=== Your beef is with the regional Raunerites who whine yet have districts that are “taker” districts. === The state has plenty of time to enhance Tier 2 pension benefits. They already did for police and fire.=== Dude, go take a walk, do anything but “this” You think any General Assembly in the next 24 months is gonna “enhance” anything. You’re as bad as IPI and Wirepoints, no concept of anything to the politics or the realities. Wear a mask, social distance… yikes, you’re so out of touch with the reality of this crisis. - Demoralized - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 3:12 pm: Sorry. Let me clarify. It’s not 2.2 for everyone. That is limited to certain individuals. - Generic Drone - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 3:31 pm: Debt criticism from the king of bankruptcies, priceless. - Kankakee Kid - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 3:51 pm: Why not have our Senators request that the Federal Government refund lost sales tax, fuel tax es, auto transfer fees,etc due to Stay at home orders. We could easily compare March, April, and May tax receipts between 2019 and 2020 to come up with a monthly loss of revenue. Seems fair, no pension bailout here. - City Zen - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 4:01 pm: == It’s not 2.2 for everyone. That is limited to certain individuals.== Correct. Those SERS/SURS/TRS participants who don’t participate in social security. The credit is more generous in some other pension systems. But my point was it wasn’t always that way. It was enhanced multiple times. ==You think any General Assembly in the next 24 months is gonna “enhance” anything.== Where did 24 months come from? We’ve got decades to enhance Tier 2. We already did last year for police and fire. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 4:08 pm: ===We’ve got decades to enhance Tier 2.=== Here i am trying to make you look at least somewhat thoughtful or intellectually honest, and you pull out “decades” Seriously, you are ridiculous to the honesty of your own arguments. “decades” What a sad, thoughtless way to think you’re arguing. - PublicServant - Monday, Apr 27, 20 @ 6:07 pm: === States don’t pay taxes, people do. === Yes, the people, who are citizens of Illinois, living and earning in Illinois, and the governor is saying that those taxes are currently being spent by the feds in states outside Illinois. If the feds, to whom those taxes go, are not willing to help Illinois recover the revenues lost to covid, then we should require that federal withholding be sent to Illinois and not the feds to deal with the expenses associated with Trump’s lack of response and downplaying of Covid-19, which has decimated Illinois budget, and caused countless additional Illinois Covid deaths. Illinois will claw back the funding on its own, if trump and his trumpkins don’t do the right thing and reimburse Illinois for covid-related expenses, another Pritzker executive order would be timely in keeping those federal taxes right here, where they belong. Come on Donnieboy, bring it. - Curious - Tuesday, Apr 28, 20 @ 12:04 pm: Anyone know if those donor state totals include Social Security and Medicare Taxes and payments? If they are included, it would be interesting to see total payments net of fica taxes and disbursements excluding Medicare and Social Security. Those are such a big portion of federal spending and since they go directly to the recipient rather than state and local governments, it could really be skewing the reality of how discretionary federal dollars are being allocated to the states. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.