In 1929, the six richest states in the U.S. were, in descending order, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, California, Illinois and New Jersey. Four of those are still in the top six (Illinois missed the cut by a few places, while Delaware has fallen to 22nd; Maryland and Massachusetts replaced them). […]
Per-capita personal income is admittedly not the most closely watched of economic indicators. In the short term, it can give some pretty strange results: West Virginia had the fastest-growing per-capita income of all the states in 2018, according to preliminary data released late last month by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, but that was partly because its population shrank by an estimated 11,216. Per-capita income also doesn’t tell us anything about the distribution of income. The Census Bureau’s median household income estimates do that, but those come with big margins of error and are only readily available back to the mid-1980s. Which leaves per-capita personal income as a quite useful measure of the changing fortunes over time of American states and localities (it’s available down to the county level). […]
Now here are the states … that saw the biggest relative losses in per-capita income from 1929 to 1980, and what’s happened to them since:
Change in per-capita personal income as a percentage of national average…
Finally, here are the 19 states where income gains outpaced the country as a whole over the past decade […]
This is a mix of states bouncing back from a really terrible 2000s (Michigan most of all, but also Colorado and Indiana), a state gaining in per-capita income as its population shrinks (Illinois), and states that are genuinely booming (Washington, Massachusetts, Oregon and others).
States With the Most Income Growth Since 2008: Change in per-capita personal income as a percentage of national average…
Today, Think Big Illinois released two new ads highlighting the need for a fair tax. The 15 second ads will be running in media markets across the state as part of Think Big Illinois’ latest efforts to ensure voters have the chance to decide whether they want a tax system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
The first ad, “How Unfair,” explains how the current tax system disproportionately places the burden on our middle-class families, who on average are forced to pay nearly 13% of their income for state and local taxes. In contrast, the top 1% of Illinoisans only have to pay around 7% of their income for state and local taxes.
The second ad, “Affect You,” highlights how Governor Pritzker’s fair tax will impact Illinoisans, including that 97% of Illinoisans will not see a state income tax increase, with only those making above $250,000 paying more. A fair tax will also help address the $3.2 billion budget crisis we’re currently facing and bring in much-needed revenue to fund critical programs, including our schools.
Unlike the group’s first TV ad, neither of these ads feature Gov. Pritzker.
How unfair is Illinois’ tax system?
If you’re a middle-class family, you’re forced to pay around 13% of your income in taxes.
But the top 1%, they pay only about half as much.
It’s time for change.
Let’s make our tax system fair in Illinois.
How will a fair tax affect you?
For 97% of Illinoisans, it would mean no income tax increase.
Only people making above $250,000 would pay more.
It’s time for change.
Let’s make our tax system fair in Illinois.
* The buy…
Think Big Illinois added 4/11-4/15
Chicago, Champaign, Peoria, and Rockford broadcast and cable
Total New Spending: $405,445
1,000 GRPs in Chicago. 380 GRPs in Champaign/Spi. 176 GRPs in Peoria. 132 GRPs in Rockford
In any such [income] tax imposed upon corporations the rate shall not exceed the rate imposed on individuals by more than a ratio of 8 to 5.
One idea behind that clause was to prevent the General Assembly from jacking up rates on corporations by making sure they’d also have to raise rates on individuals.
The current corporate income tax rate is 7 percent (not including the Personal Property Replacement Tax), while the personal rate is 4.95 percent. That’s an easy-to-figure ratio of 7 to 4.95, so there’s actually a little cap space remaining. The corporate rate could legally be increased right now to 7.92 percent (plus PPRT).
In any such [income] tax imposed upon corporations the highest rate shall not exceed the highest rate imposed on individuals by more than a ratio of 8 to 5.
Pritzker’s highest proposed individual income tax rate is 7.95 percent. The governor’s proposed corporate rate is 7.95 percent.
But that 8-5 ratio amendment means the corporate rate could legally be increased to 12.72 percent, plus the 1.5 to 2.5 percent PPRT. That means the highest final corporate rate could go as high as 15.22 percent.
Whew.
…Adding… If they cap out, and I’m not saying they will, that rate would be the highest anywhere…
Under Pritzker's rate structure, this amendment would allow for an effective corporate income tax rate of up to 15.22% (8/5ths of JB's top personal rate of 7.95% + 2.5% PPRT). That would be the highest in the nation by far. Note that Iowa's is scheduled to drop. pic.twitter.com/7F8eHWF3zs
* A Senate appropriations committee held a hearing on the Illinois Department of Human Services budget this week…
Another proposed increase is for the Child Care Assistance Program.
Parents at 185 percent of the federal poverty line can get child care assistance now. DHS is looking to increase that to 200 percent, which could cost about $30 million more.
Righter said that before putting more money into the program, DHS needs to figure out why there’s $100 million in unused funding for the program with the existing income threshold.
“Going to 200 or 215 [percent of the FPL] is good eye candy,” Righter said, “but if we’re leaving people on the table who have less money than that, nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. I don’t care what party you are, nobody wants that.”
State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, agreed there needs to be an answer why there’s excess money at the lower threshold.
“I’m supportive of increasing the eligibility, but we have 69 percent of the families that are eligible that are not part of the program,” Villivalam said.
Villivalam used to work for SEIU Healthcare, so he should know the answer to his question.
* Child care advocates have been predicting this would happen ever since Gov. Bruce Rauner started slashing eligibility in 2015. Let’s fire up the Wayback Machine…
Under new Illinois Department of Human Services rules instated July 1, [2015] some parents earning minimum wage in full-time jobs make twice as much as the cutoff.
In fact, 90 percent of parents throughout the state who tried to sign up after July 1 are no longer eligible, according to estimates by lawmakers and advocates. That includes not only families new to the program, but those parents, like Jamison, who had not used the program during summer months and tried to re-enroll only to discover they no longer qualified. […]
The state assistance program was created after the 1996 federal Welfare-to-Work initiative. Prior to July 1, it had served families that earned up to 185 percent of the federal poverty line, which would be $51,634 for a family of five or $29,101 for a single parent and child. Under the new emergency rules enacted by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, if a single parent with one child earns more than $7,968 a year, that family is no longer eligible. In all, about 20,000 children who would otherwise be eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program are expected to be without state-subsidized care by the end of the month. More than 160,000 children had care through the program up until the rule change. The new rule does not apply to families already enrolled at the time it took effect.
“Those slots now that child care providers have are sitting open, and they can’t fill them because 90 percent of people who would apply are no longer eligible,’’ says Emily Miller, director of policy and advocacy for Voices for Illinois Children.
Those projections were revised upward to 30,000 kids being deemed ineligible, then revised up again to 40,000. Because of that, a whole lot of providers simply gave up due to lack of work, decimating the provider network.
In budget documents released Tuesday, Governor Rauner declared he would cut nearly $60 million for an extension of the Child Care Assistance Program that was both mandated by the federal government and approved by the state legislature. That funding would go to expand CCAP eligibility for working families from six to twelve months, per the federal block grant, and ensure that families have the continuity of care they need.
Currently, Illinois’ CCAP eligibility is re-determined every 6 months, and children can lose access to their care setting, even if they are eligible again a short time after they are removed from the program. This creates a reality where kids churn in and out of child care settings and subsidy payments, leading to instability that impacts their development and school readiness, and adds additional burdens to working parents.
Rauner began his war on child care in the summer of 2015, unilaterally slashing the Child Care Assistance Program by 90%. Time and again, the governor vetoed legislation to restore and expand CCAP eligibility, despite desperate pleas from many parents that his CCAP cuts put them at risk of losing their jobs or having to drop out of school.
After two years, SEIU child care providers and working parents have forced Governor Rauner to fully reverse his child care cuts. However, the damage has been done. Today CCAP serves nearly 40,000 fewer children than before Rauner’s 2015 cuts and has 10,000 fewer child care providers in program.
The task at hand is to convince parents and potential providers that this is now a stable, reliable program. That won’t be a simple matter.
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Villivalam called to say that what he was trying to get across at the hearing was the dire need for public outreach. DHS, he said, isn’t doing much to inform the public. Villivalam has a bill in the hopper, SB1321, which would require DHS to promote the availability of the Child Care Assistance Program. That bill passed the Senate unanimously.
* I didn’t notice it yesterday during the roll call, but House Republican Leader Jim Durkin voted for this bill, as did a handful of other Republicans…
The state of Illinois is one step closer to hiking the minimum salary for teachers to $40,000 a year.
House Bill 2078 passed the House on a 79-31 vote Tuesday. The bill would phase in the salary increase over a period of five years.
“Better wages bring better teachers, and better teachers mean better schools,” state Rep. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) said. “High-quality education will attract people and business back to Illinois and pump money into our economy. This pay increase will benefit communities across the state.”
The bill is supported by the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.
Durkin voted “No” last year. I’m told he changed his mind partly because of the state’s teacher shortage.
On Tuesday, supporters of legislation that would amend gun ownership laws and make fingerprinting mandatory for a FOID card say it’s a mathematical certainty that of the 265,000 concealed carry licensees and more than 2 million FOID card holders in Illinois, Arquero and Martin are not the only ones who lied on their applications. […]
[Valinda Rowe, the spokeswoman for IllinoisCarry] believes the law that requires anyone who wants a gun to spend $10 on a FOID card that is good for 10 years is unconstitutional as it stands. Any amendments or future legislation aimed at further restricting gun owners’ rights would only exacerbate the problem, she said. And shortening the FOID card’s expiration date from 10 years to five, which is also part of the legislative proposal, puts an additional burden on citizens, she said. […]
The bill also would require applicants, who now can fill out necessary forms online, to apply for both a FOID or a CCL in person at an Illinois State Police district office. Rowe also took issue with that provision.
“There are only 22 district offices for Illinois State Police in the entire state. How can 22 district offices handle two-and-a-quarter million FOID applicants in their 22 lobbies?” she asked.
* Mandatory nurse staffing would lead to cuts in other health care areas: To begin with, there are not enough nurses in Illinois to meet the ratios, with a projected shortage of 21,000 nurses by next year and one-third of registered nurses (RNs) in Illinois planning to retire within the next five years. Even if smaller hospitals like FHN Memorial Hospital could find enough qualified RNs to meet the mandates, it would be done at the expense of staffing cuts in other areas. In turn, that could mean that nurses would be doing work that does not maximize their training and capabilities for the best care of their patients. These negative impacts on the RN work environment and their opportunities for advancement would further curtail our ability to attract and hire nurses in an already challenging hiring environment.
* Some creative ways to save money in Illinois public schools: Authors Adam Slade and Nick McFadden estimate that Illinois could save $645 million per year, or $318 per student, if it reduced administrative spending to the national average.
* Rezin’s health care bills good news for Illinoisans: Rezin, the Republican state senator from Morris, sponsored Senate Bill 2026, which would require legislative approval before the state could apply for a federal waiver to the Affordable Care Act that reduced or eliminated protections for people with pre-existing conditions. She noted the move was necessary to provide peace of mind after 2018 federal legislation giving states the right to waive portions of ACA compliance.
* Caseworkers notified about New Elder Law: Under our new Kasem-Baksys Visitation Law, close family members being unreasonably denied visitation with their elder by another family member can go to court, outside of guardianship proceedings. This is important because abusive isolation can start when an elder first becomes physically dependent, long before he or she becomes mentally disabled.
Families seeking a religious exemption next year, or transferring after Oct. 16, will have to complete a certificate explaining their objection on religious grounds before kindergarten, 6th and 9th grades. That certificate also must include the signature of a doctor, attesting that he or she counseled the parents about the risks of skipping vaccines.
How effective the new law will be in reducing the number of unvaccinated children isn’t clear, since how schools define a religious objection isn’t clear either. The Illinois State Board of Education tracked more than 13,000 such exemptions in 2013, said spokeswoman Megan Griffin. While the objection doesn’t have to be based on religious doctrine, it can’t be based simply on personal preference either, she said.
The certificate also reflects the parents or legal guardians understanding that their child may be excluded from school in the case of a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak or exposure. Parents
The evidence keeps piling up that Illinois must toughen its law on vaccine exemptions.
In dozens of schools in the Chicago area and in hundreds across the state, vaccination rates are below what experts recommend to prevent the spread of measles, according to a new analysis by WBEZ.
According to experts, at least 98% of students in a school should be vaccinated for their own protection — and to provide group protection for children who, for legitimate medical reasons, can’t be vaccinated for the highly contagious disease.
But WBEZ found that at 67 Chicago-area schools, and 514 schools across Illinois, vaccination rates topped out at 95% or lower. At four Chicago schools, fewer than 50% of children had proof of vaccination.
* The Question: Should Illinois eliminate all non-medical childhood vaccine exemptions? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
“When we were at this conference a year ago, Illinois had the most anti-union governor in the nation,” Pritzker said. The audience booed each time Pritzker said Rauner’s name. Pritzker paused, with relish, at each round of boos. […]
Rauner “was hell bent,” Pritzker said, on eliminating project labor agreements, pushing local right-to-work zones and “destroying” prevailing wage agreements while “stacking the Illinois Department of Labor with his anti-union cronies allied with the Koch Brothers,” a reference to the anti-union drives bankrolled by the billionaire brothers. […]
Pritzker told the group about actions he did from day one as governor: signing orders restoring project labor and prevailing wage agreements and dealing with wage theft and day-labor exploitation. He also signed a law raising the Illinois minimum wage to $15-an-hour by 2025.
“I want to be clear. When it comes to fighting for Illinois workers, we are just getting started,” said Pritzker.
* Let’s begin our coverage of the governor’s graduated income tax press conference with this Tribune excerpt…
GOP lawmakers and a pro-business political committee called Ideas Illinois, run by former Illinois Manufacturers’ Association chief Greg Baise, have attacked Pritzker’s proposal as a “jobs tax” and argued that it would push businesses and wealthy residents out of state.
“For those who will oppose a fair tax by waging a misinformation campaign, it is transparent that you are defending an unfair status quo that benefits the wealthiest Illinoisans instead of offering your own ideas for how to fix our state’s problems,” Pritzker said.
The governor cited a report from PolitiFact Illinois that rated the “jobs tax” claim as false.
But is it “really” the hardest-working paper in all of America? I’m sure I could find experts, as PolitiFact often does, to establish some benchmarks about what hard work is, and about how reporters work very hard all over the country. I could then send an e-mail to the paper’s publisher asking him to justify the slogan, then follow up with maybe the Tribune’s publisher to see if he agreed. And then I could easily rate that slogan “False” or even “Pants on Fire!” because it wasn’t true.
Yes, that would be silly, but don’t we generally hold newspapers to a higher standard than dark money committees? Should they be allowed to run such misleading ad campaigns? Who’s going to speak for the children?!
The proposed amendment to change Illinois’ constitution from a flat income tax to one with higher rates for higher earners will get a last-minute hearing Wednesday in Springfield. […]
On Tuesday, state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, requested the six-day posting requirements to hold a committee hearing be waived. He asked for his Senate Joint Constitutional Amendment No. 1, which includes language to change the state’s flat tax to a tax structure that levies higher rates on higher incomes, to be heard in the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, objected.
“What’s at issue here is a substantive amendment to the Illinois constitution that will affect the finances and taxes of millions of Illinoisans,” Righter said. “At the very least, the six days notice required is appropriate for this body … to have a conversation about the contents of the amendment and the effects it might have on our constituents.”
I don’t particularly care for the posting waiver, either. But, really, what actual “conversation” can Senators have while the proposal awaits a committee hearing? Isn’t that what a hearing is for?
At any one time there may be no more than one such tax imposed by the State for State purposes on individuals and one such tax so imposed on corporations.
Under the proposed language, they argued, the state would actually be allowed to levy multiple income taxes, each for a different purpose, which would effectively allow the state to tax the same income multiple times. […]
“That means it could set up for all kinds of surcharges,” Maisch said. “It means you could go ahead and actually have a second income tax to go ahead and fund, I don’t know, transportation or whatever the other need is. But they are eliminating that taxpayer protection that says, ‘this dollar of income can only be taxed once by the state.’” […]
According to Harmon, the prohibition on levying multiple income taxes was simply a companion to the requirement for a single, flat tax rate. Without that prohibition, he said, the framers feared that lawmakers could levy a series of “flat” taxes on different levels of income – say, for example, one on income up to $30,000; another “flat” rate on income between $30,000 and $60,000, and so on – effectively creating a multi-tiered tax structure through a series of limited “flat” taxes on different levels of income.
By allowing the state to create a multi-tiered tax structure, Harmon said, the prohibition on multiple taxes would become unnecessary.
Furthermore, he said, if supporters of the proposed change had left in the prohibition on multiple taxes, critics would likely argue that a multi-tiered structure would violate that prohibition.
There may be one tax on the income of individuals and corporations. This may be a fair tax where lower rates apply to lower income levels and higher rates apply to higher income levels. No government other than the State may impose a tax on or measured by income.
I get what Harmon is saying, but somebody may have over-thought that language deletion. They should’ve just left the originally proposed language in place.
One of the arguments from opponents of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed progressive income-tax amendment to the Illinois Constitution is that another tax hike, particularly on upper-income earners, will encourage more people to leave the state.
But a new study conducted by Chicago’s Better Government Association contends that statistics do not support that contention. At the same time, the BGA study shows that the earners Pritzker says he cares about most — middle- and lower-income earners — are the hardest hit by tax increases and most likely to leave the state because of them.
Unlike all previous income tax hikes, this one would only be on upper-income folks.
Mayor-elect Lightfoot to spend Wed and Thurs in Springfield
Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot will spend Wednesday and Thursday in Springfield. On Wednesday, Lightfoot will address the Illinois House of Representatives and meet with Governor JB Pritzker, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, Speaker Michael Madigan, and Leader Jim Durkin. On Thursday, Lightfoot will address the Illinois Senate and meet with President John Cullerton, Leader Bill Brady, and Leader Kimberly Lightford.
Address to the House of Representatives
When: Wednesday, 4/10, 3:15pm
Where: House of Representatives Floor
Press availability: This address is open press. Lightfoot will be available for comment following her address.
Address to the Senate
When: Thursday, 4/11, 11:15am
Where: Senate Floor
Press availability: This address is open press. Lightfoot will be available for comment following her address.
…Adding… Times are being firmed up…
Updated: Daily Public Schedule: Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2019
What: Gov. Pritzker to greet Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot ahead of their first meeting in Springfield.
Where: Illinois State Capitol, Governor’s Office, Springfield
When: 1:30 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability.
* Meanwhile…
Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot released the following statement in advance of the Wednesday Finance Committee meeting.
“From day one, I’ve stood with the grassroots movement to seek transparency and community input in Lincoln Yards and The 78. I’ve advanced a set of priorities throughout this effort, including the need for clear and specific plans from the developers to boost inclusion of minority- and women-owned businesses.
“I am appreciative of Mayor Emanuel and Finance Committee Chairman O’Connor for agreeing to defer Monday’s vote on Lincoln Yards and The 78 to allow my team additional time to seek clarity and address our concerns. Based on subsequent conversations with Mayor Emanuel, community stakeholders, and a number of aldermen, we expect that this deal is likely to pass tomorrow.
“As a show of good faith, my team had productive meetings today with both developers. As a result of those conversations, I am pleased to report that both developers agreed to meaningfully strengthen their commitments to minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises (”MBE” and “WBE”) from the original terms. The increases would lift the overall M/WBE participation by $80 million to $400 million overall. In addition, both developers agreed to add language to the redevelopment agreements to provide explicit controls for the City to measure and require compliance with actual utilization of M/WBEs on the projects. These changes represent a vital sign that my administration will be able to make progress toward an equitable and fair deal for our communities.
“There remains much more work to do in this regard, and I am hopeful we’ll be able to get there. Under the terms of both redevelopment agreements, we have confirmed that the City has additional controls over these projects, which I am confident will allow for us to further improve these deals and to bring community voices into the process going forward.
“There are likely sufficient votes to advance these proposals tomorrow. I am not yet the mayor, and I recognize that the current administration and City Council must decide whether to carry this vote forward according to the interests of the constituents they serve. Either way, upon swearing in, I will engage with the community and committed activists who have advocated forcefully for affordable housing, park space and the responsible use of tax increment financing dollars for many months. And in making future decisions about these and all other deals, we will work with stakeholders to allow for robust community input from the beginning and throughout.”
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker remains one of the biggest proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana, which he said could bring in $170 million in tax revenue, to start, by next year.
And on Tuesday he took it a step further, saying he’s also in support of “home grow” — marijuana — to an extent. The discussion about how many marijuana plants would be allowed in a household remains part of ongoing negotiations about marijuana legalization in the state.
Asked during a Springfield news conference about his “philosophical” view of whether Illinois residents should have the right to grow cannabis in their homes, Pritzker voiced his support.
“I don’t think it’s a philosophical question about whether it should just be an open right for anybody to open their own farm in their basement,” Pritzker said to some chuckles from legislators behind him. “It’s really more of a question about … it’s really more…”
After a bit more of laughter, Pritzker took a position: “People should have home grow, but the question is how much?”
