Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Stratton warns of tax hike on all if tax hike on upper-income earners fails

Thursday, Sep 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton warned Thursday that Illinoisans could face an across-the-board income tax hike of at least 20% if voters reject a proposed constitutional amendment to shift the state from a mandated flat-rate tax to a graduated-rate tax based on income.

For weeks, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritkzer’s administration has cautioned that severe budget cuts could be on the way if voters don’t approve the proposed amendment to overhaul Illinois’ income tax system. But Stratton’s threat that all taxpayers, regardless of income, could face a tax hike unless the amendment passes on Nov. 3 appeared to represent a new shift in strategy for the Pritzker administration.

“To adequately address the budget crisis under our current tax system, lawmakers will be forced to consider raising income taxes on all Illinois residents by at least 20% regardless of their level of income,” Stratton said during a virtual rally on behalf of the pro-amendment Vote Yes for Fairness group that marked the start of voting in Illinois. […]

A 20% increase would raise the state’s current 4.95% flat-rate personal income tax by nearly 1 percentage point to 5.94%. It would raise an estimated $4 billion a year, even more than the projected $3.4 billion that would be generated under a graduated-rate levy enacted if the amendment is ratified, said professor David Merriman, a longtime expert on state finances at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

* React from the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment on Tax Hike…

“If you need more proof Springfield has too much power and can’t be trusted look no further than telling voters to support a tax hike amendment or politicians will continue to raise them for you.

“It’s clear there’s only three words the Springfield politicians understand: Raising your taxes.”

Lissa Druss
Spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment

…Adding… Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider…

Governor Pritzker’s team is so worried that his massive tax hike won’t pass that they have resorted to threatening taxpayers with…an even more massive tax hike. I believe the people of Illinois are too smart to be fooled by these outrageous scare tactics.

We deserve a state government that makes the same hard choices families make every day - to cut costs and live responsibly within our means. It’s clear that state government under the direction of Governor Pritzker and Speaker Michael Madigan are not capable of doing that. We shouldn’t reward their terrible decision-making with more of our hard earned money.

…Adding… HGOPs…

MEDIA ADVISORY: Illinois House Republicans Respond to Pritzker Administration Threats to Illinois Residents for Graduated Tax Amendment

WHO: Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Deputy Minority Leader Tom Demmer (R-Dixon)

WHAT: House Republicans respond to the Pritzker Administration’s threat to raise income taxes on every Illinoisan by 20 percent if the unfair tax amendment does not pass in November.

WHEN: 11:00am CT on Friday, September 25, 2020

39 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** ComEd official to testify at House investigative committee hearing next week

Thursday, Sep 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dan Mihalopoulos and Tony Arnold at WBEZ…

A special Illinois House committee’s hearings next week on the Springfield bribery scandal should begin with testimony from executives of Commonwealth Edison, the company at the center of the federal corruption probe, WBEZ has learned.

In a letter Thursday to the Democratic lawmaker heading the legislative inquiry, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said he or his lawyer, the former federal prosecutor Ron Safer, “will be questioning” the ComEd executives at the special panel’s meeting on Tuesday. […]

Durkin told [committee chairman Chris Welch] he “will be presenting an opening statement” at the committee meeting Tuesday, and he added that “a representative” of ComEd has confirmed the company’s executives will appear at the session to testify.

ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez and other executives from the power company – which serves 4 million homes and businesses across northern Illinois – already have testified and taken questions about the scandal at the state board that regulates utilities and at the Chicago City Council. […]

A ComEd spokesman said the company would comment on its participation in the hearings later Thursday. Welch did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday morning.

ComEd has not yet commented, but I’ll post it when they do. I have been able to confirm that a ComEd official will testify.

*** UPDATE *** Tribune…

“ComEd has pledged to respect the legislative process that has been initiated and accepted the invitation to provide testimony at the hearing next week,” company spokesman Paul Elsberg said in a statement.

20 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** 870,000 new unemployment benefit applications filed last week, 23,113 in Illinois

Thursday, Sep 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* AP…

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants, airlines, hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted.

The figure coincides with evidence that some newly laid-off Americans are facing delays in receiving unemployment benefits as state agencies intensify efforts to combat fraudulent applications and clear their pipelines of a backlog of jobless claims.

California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and prevent fraudulent claims. Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates are improperly receiving aid.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits declined to 12.6 million. The steady decline in that figure over the past several months reflects that some of the unemployed are being re-hired. Yet it also indicates that others have exhausted their regular jobless aid, which last six months in most states.

* Duncan Black…

Peak new claims in the Great Recession was 665K. Every weekly report since March 26 has been higher than that.

* CBS 2…

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 23,113 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Sept. 14 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday.

While this number is based on advanced estimates, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will be releasing a final number later Thursday. […]

There were 27,384 new unemployment claims were filed in Illinois during the week of Sept. 7.

* WalletHub looks at where Illinois stands in relation to other states. 1 equals the quickest recover and 25 is the average…

• 253.52% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Last Year)

o 23,113 the week of September 14, 2020 vs 6,538 the week of September 16, 2019
o 19th quickest recovery in the U.S.

• 96.22% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)

o 23,113 the week of September 14, 2020 vs 11,779 the week of January 1, 2020
o 26th quickest recovery in the U.S.

• 762.89% Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs Last Year)

o 1,671,157 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of September 14, 2020 vs 219,055 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of September 16, 2019
o 4th quickest recovery in the U.S.

More here.

*** UPDATE *** IDES…

The number of nonfarm jobs decreased over-the-year in all fourteen Illinois metropolitan areas in August, with five metro areas at record low payrolls for that month, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The unemployment rate increased over-the-year in all metro areas and to record highs for the month of August in two metros. The official, BLS approved sub-state unemployment rate and nonfarm jobs series begins in 1990. Data reported prior to 1990 are not directly comparable due to updates in methodology.

“With the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan in place, we are working hard to keep people safe while restoring confidence in and strengthening our economy,” said Deputy Governor Dan Hynes. “IDES is continuing to work tirelessly to support working families by connecting them to job training and workforce matching programs and ensuring benefits get to those impacted by this pandemic.”

The number of nonfarm jobs decreased in all fourteen Illinois metropolitan areas. Total nonfarm jobs were down in Peoria (-11.0%, -19,000), Elgin (-9.7%, -25,300) and Decatur (-8.4%, -4,300). In Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, jobs were down -7.6% (-291,600). No industry sector saw job gains in a majority of metro areas.

Not seasonally adjusted data compares August 2020 with August 2019. The not seasonally adjusted Illinois rate was 10.9 percent in August 2020 and the highest August unemployment rate since 1983, when it was 11.3 percent. The official, BLS approved, statewide unemployment rate series begins in 1976. Nationally, the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in August 2020 and the highest August unemployment rate since 2011, when it was 9.1. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment.