* November 5…
Durkin said the Pritzker administration should start with 4% across the board cuts to the state budget. After that, Durkin said Republicans are willing to negotiate with the administration to make additional cuts that could be made.
* January 4…
Illinois House Republicans say they’re still waiting on Gov. JB Pritzker to propose specific spending cuts to the state’s current year state budget, which is $4 billion out of balance.
There were other, similar demands, but you get the idea.
* Yesterday…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he’s freezing the implementation of new business tax credits and calling for legislators to stop changes to the state’s income tax framework to save coronavirus-ravaged Illinois just over half a billion dollars.
Outraged Republicans called it “just one more hit” for struggling business owners.
The new, expanded state tax credits would have cost the state $20 million annually, according to the governor’s news release announcing the freeze and proposal. They were authorized in 2019 as part of a series of tax changes that were scheduled to take effect at the start of this year. […]
“We have businesses contacting us every day, asking for more and more relief, and for the governor to decide that the state’s bottom line is more important than these businesses’ bottom line is something that we’re really outraged by,” said state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, knocking Pritzker for unveiling the proposal in a news release rather than discussing it with the Legislature.
* Related…
* Small business grant program ends, paying out more than $275 million
- Oswego Willy - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:03 pm:
Elections have consequences.
Pain is here, the minority party claims, rightly so, governors own, so the governor will own something that ironically turns out to be a sector that opposed the recent revenue option.
It’s disappointing that the minority party’s leadership sees the politics to “cuts”, “across the board cuts” and “governors own” as something they shouldn’t feel pain for their allies on the taxing issue of November.
I’d be far more interested to see minority party cuts going forward.
- confused - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:17 pm:
asking for cuts and opposing tax hikes are consistent…
- thisjustinagain - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:22 pm:
JB told State agencies a while back to prepare a “doomsday” budget with something like 6% across-the -agency cuts, if I remember right. So the Republicans (no surprise) don’t even want to cut that much, while offering no targets to be cut, or even discussed. And they wonder why the Dems remain with a stranglehold on the State….
- Candy Dogood - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:32 pm:
Rep Kinzinger is the perfect Illinois GOP nominee for Governor.
He’s loud, actively supported Trump’s agenda for the last 4 years, is eloquent when pearl clutching on television and has failed to deliver any meaningful action as an elected official while calling on others to do something when he has the power to act and ignoring any responsibility he has for the current situation.
The Illinois GOP just doesn’t live in the same universe as the rest of us.
I wonder what these guys are like at the poker table.
“I didn’t really call that bet, give me back my chips.”
“Pots mine! I won that had with the cards I folded.”
“That’s an illegal bet. You can’t re-raise me!”
“You need to give me my money back, so I can keep playing.”
“Fake flush!”
- Rich Miller - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:33 pm:
===opposing tax hikes===
This wouldn’t raise taxes from their past levels.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:48 pm:
They should have been careful what they wished for…because now they have it.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:49 pm:
The GOP needs to pick a lane and stay in it.
- JB13 - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 12:55 pm:
Since when does governmental “austerity” mean making private businesses pay more in taxes than they otherwise would have?
Not necessarily opposed to the governor’s actions here. And I will reserve judgment until I see what actual state government cuts the administration brings to the table.
But “austerity?” This ain’t it.
- Rich Miller - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:00 pm:
===Since when does governmental “austerity” mean making private businesses pay more in taxes than they otherwise would have?===
LOL
It’s the definition.
- @misterjayem - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:01 pm:
“And they wonder why the Dems remain with a stranglehold on the State”
The IL-GOP’s naked hypocrisy may not be good for governing.
Or to win statewide elections.
Or a majority the legislature.
But it’s great for fundraising.
The Republican Party of Illinois has made a choice.
– MrJM
- Bruce( no not him) - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:11 pm:
Austerity for thee, but not for me.
- Oswego Willy - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:13 pm:
=== The Republican Party of Illinois has made a choice.===
First with Rauner, now with Trump…
…the actual governing to purpose by the current leaders of the ILGOP is to appease those who can write the checks.
That’s the ball game.
These folks also has distain for Edgar-types, as the honesty to all things Edgar (including the bad like the ramp issues of today) isn’t “Republican” enough, but the checks and fundraising demands Edgar’s dismissing.
- Guy Probably - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:19 pm:
That is the least surprising headline about Illinois politics that I’ve seen.
Do we have proposed cuts by the GOP leaders yet? We still waiting on their participation in the process?
- Phenomynous - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:29 pm:
Democratic members of the legislature passed and the Governor signed a budget with a $6+ billion deficit. They literally chose to do this budget on their own and keep the GOP out of the conversation in May, so I can’t say I’m surprised that the republicans aren’t bending over backwards to help out.
If you want to be equal partners in something, then it helps too treat people equally.
- Moe Berg - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 1:38 pm:
Who’s “keeping the GOP out of the conversation”?
They are not allowed to offer, in specific, what they would cut and how they would balance the budget? They seem to have access to email, reporters, and social media.
Beyond the generic”pension reform” and “cut waste, fraud and abuse,” who is not letting them speak all their great ideas?
- Skeptic - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 2:28 pm:
===opposing tax hikes===
“This wouldn’t raise taxes from their past levels.”
Remember that Rauner argued that keeping the taxes the same was a 66% tax increase.
- Anon221 - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 3:44 pm:
Interesting PPT of CGFA 2014 Report on Tax Incentives in Illinois- https://cgfa.ilga.gov/upload/2014-jan-17%20house%20revenue%20committee.pdf
Slides 29-37 are the analysis sections of actual value of some tax incentive programs offered. Two take-aways on Slide 32:
The cost of incentives—state leaders are in the dark: State policymakers don’t have an accurate
accounting of the most basic of information about their state’s incentive programs—the cost.
Solid evaluation of existing programs is lacking: In addition to comprehensive cost estimates, reliable evaluations of the performance of existing programs are not available to policymakers, which
are needed to make informed, data-driven decisions.
- Perrid - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 5:21 pm:
Rich, the governor was supposed to get the money from poor people, school teachers, and state employees, not businesses. The GOP just can’t say that they care less about their constituents than business owners.
- 4 percent - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 5:33 pm:
@Anon221
Get with the times and don’t cite a report from 7 years ago. Comptroller puts out a tax expenditure report every single year.
- Anon221 - Saturday, Jan 9, 21 @ 7:06 pm:
4 percent- This was about Tax Incentives and was a Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report not a Tax Expenditure annual report from the Comptroller.