27 Comments - very old soil - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 3:56 am: Does Illinois have any unique election laws or traditions? - retiree - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 4:21 am: A question I can’t seem to find an answer to: if the fair tax amendment passes, it takes effect 1/1/21. Does that mean it will apply to 2020 income? - Chatham Resident - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 5:43 am: So, what did happen at the Budget Committee meeting? - Southwest Sider - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 7:52 am: Wall Street Journal Editorial Today. “An new progressive income tax would speed the state’s economic decline.” And “Illinois is the leading fiscal basket case.” - Bruce( no not him) - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 7:54 am: Since the Covid began, there are only 3 days of the week. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And, I’m not sure about tomorrow. - Skeptic - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 8:40 am: Retiree: I’m no scholar, but I’d say no. All the amendment does is to allow a graduated tax. It doesn’t change existing tax laws. - notsosure - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:04 am: Skeptic is right, retiree. Amending the constitution will take effect immediately after the election is certified, but the law creating new rates kicks in 1/1/2021, to income earned on or after that date. - Amalia - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:06 am: Fall color reports? I have not been out and about at all in the last 10 days but would venture out if reports sound interesting. - drama - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:17 am: just the news, ma’am - North Park - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:31 am: ===Fall color reports?=== I’d say its about 10% in Peoria right now. Some of the maples are starting to turn, but oaks are still vibrantly green. - RNUG - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:42 am: == Fall color reports? == Fulton County (aka Spoon River Vivid Drive) was just starting to turn last weekend. We took a drive on Friday before the semi-offical drive over the weekend. Given the hard frost we just had Sunday night, I suspect the color might be decent this coming weekend … or the week after. - Powdered Whig - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:42 am: To be fair to Alderman Dowell, tensions are as high as they have ever been. The Country is divided into two, equally polarized universes. It is not going to get better anytime soon. - @misterjayem - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 9:51 am: At long last, the Injustice Watch guide to the November 2020 Cook County judicial elections is now available: https://www.injusticewatch.org/interactives/judicial-election-guide/2020-general/en/ – MrJM - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 10:04 am: Illinois J. B. Pritzker, Democrat Legislature: Democratic Grade: F Took office: January 2019 Billionaire J. B. Pritzker has been long involved in Democratic politics and is a member of the family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain. Governor Pritzker earns one of the lowest grades on this study due to his large tax increases. Pritzker signed into law $2.7 billion in net annual tax increases last year. He increased the gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon, hiked vehicle registration fees, increased the cigarette tax from $1.98 per pack to $2.98, and expanded online sales taxes. One good move, however, was enacting a phaseout of the state’s corporate franchise tax, which is an unneeded burden on businesses in addition to the state’s corporate income tax. The big issue looming for Illinois taxation is whether voters this November will amend the state constitution to convert the state’s flat individual income tax to a multirate (progressive) system. Pritzker is pushing hard in favor of the change. The current income tax has a flat rate of 4.95 percent, and, if the amendment passes, legislation is in place to replace it with a six‐​rate system with a top rate of 7.99 percent. The plan to increase taxes on higher earners threatens to erode the tax base as people move out of Illinois to lower‐​tax states. IRS data show that Illinois loses two taxpayers earning more than $200,000 per year to other states for each one moving in.121 The tax‐​increase plan would also raise the corporate income tax rate from 9.5 percent to 10.49 percent.122 Overall, the individual and corporate income plans would raise taxes by an enormous $3.9 billion a year.123 Even with all the state’s budget woes—including high debt, unfunded obligations, and the lowest bond rating in the nation—Pritzker’s 2021 budget proposed to increase general fund spending by 5.7 percent. Funding for the budget partly depends on borrowing funds from a Federal Reserve emergency program, which would put the state even further into debt. https://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/fiscal-policy-report-card-americas-governors-2020 - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 10:15 am: VoteForJudges: http://voteforjudges.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Alliance-2020-General-Election-Ratings-10.2.pdf - DownSouth - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 10:26 am: Fall Color reports - here’s the update from DNR that they do every Friday. https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/news/Documents/FallColor-Oct02-2020.pdf Things are still pretty green and just getting started down here in the southern hinterlands - hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 10:48 am: Never taken in the Spoon River drive. May need to do that this weekend. Forgot that the Davis-Londrigan debate was last night. Hope Londrigan did well. - Scott Cross for President - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 11:00 am: How cold before you stop dining outdoors? It’s a beautiful day near me, so I’ll probably stop by my neighborhood coffee shop for a cup outside. And the weather looks good for the next week. But at some point outdoors isn’t an option, and indoor dining is limited and the expected COVID spike later this year may further restrict it. So how long do people push it ? 60 degrees ? 50 degrees ? Wind ? Mild snow ? I’m curious from the CF family. - Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 11:38 am: Scott, depending on the venue, I could see sitting out of doors until it’s freezing. By our of doors I mean places with some shelter, like maybe a roof and a heat source. - RNUG - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 11:42 am: == Never taken in the Spoon River drive. May need to do that this weekend. == The color is probably better further west in the county. But there aren’t as many vendors there. The alternate organization lists the vendors mostly in Canton and Farmington, with another bunch between Farmington and London Mills. You can, with some searching, find a spreadsheet of vendor locations and map on Facebook under the group Spoon River Covid 19 Drive. - Powdered Whig - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 11:51 am: === It’s a beautiful day near me, so I’ll probably stop by my neighborhood coffee shop for a cup outside. And the weather looks good for the next week. But at some point outdoors isn’t an option, and indoor dining is limited and the expected COVID spike later this year may further restrict it. So how long do people push it ? 60 degrees ? 50 degrees ? Wind ? Mild snow ? I’m curious from the CF family. === I haven’t eaten at a restaurant (either indoors or outdoors) since the pandemic hit. We only order delivery when we don’t feel like cooking. Not sure we actually miss eating at restaurants. - Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 12:09 pm: Londrigan won the debate based on facts and a winning smile…Davis lost in a sweat. - Marty Meh-lan - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 12:14 pm: Anyone know why Cook County Board of Elections isn’t updating ISBE with their mail-in ballots received? There was a statewide update issued almost an hour ago and Cook County STILL is reporting 0 ballots returned. Chicago, which has slightly more ballots requested has had almost 54,000 mail in ballots returned, and it just concerns me that Yarborough’s office can’t update this information like the rest of the State and even the city!!! - From DaZoo - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 12:21 pm: _Southwest Sider_ I just read that article and was abruptly turned off by not only the tone but by their citing IPI. Another notable problem with the article is the implied (and incorrect) conflating of Census net out-migration data with “the rich are leaving” rhetoric. The app I was reading it through didn’t indicate it was an editorial but I should have guessed based on the tone. - Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 12:55 pm: Yesterday is gone… and tomorrow may never be ours. Shower the people you love with love…today. - BobCL - Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 3:54 pm: If too late for a Fall drive, the “To this generation I would say: Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty.” -Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology - Amalia - Thursday, Oct 8, 20 @ 11:10 am: @RNUG North Park Down South thanks for the color reports. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.