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No iTunes tax, and other predictable developments

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Illinois

* I expressed some doubt to subscribers yesterday that the iTunes tax was going anywhere, based on conversations I’d had with some high-level players and my own gut feeling that the tax on music and video downloads would make nervous legislators even more nervous because it would attract way too much attention. Quinn backed off today…

Gov. Pat Quinn is backing off a proposal to tax music and video downloads in an effort to plug the state’s massive budget hole, saying he still believes raising the income tax is the best way to generate money for the state.

Quinn floated the idea of taxing downloads from online services such as iTunes in a meeting with legislative leaders earlier this week, but the proposal received a cold reception in Springfield. Today, Quinn said that he was simply offering suggestions on ways to solve the state’s budget crisis and does not support the plan, which would have generated $5 million to $10 million a year.

“We had a meeting with the legislative leaders the other day, we made a list of all the possible things that could happen,” Quinn said. “I didn’t advocate that. I’m not interested in doing that, frankly.”

* We’ve known for some time that there was no way the Senate would approve this bill this year…

Regardless of their income, senior citizens can continue riding Chicago-area mass transit for free after the state Senate Wednesday preserved what a GOP critic called one of impeached, ex-Gov. Blagojevich’s “last and most impulsive acts.”

A Democratic-led Senate panel narrowly rejected a Republican push to prevent affluent seniors from skirting fares on buses and trains and tying the free-rides program to a retirees’ income.

* I wrote weeks ago that it was highly doubtful that McCormick Place would really try to take on the two gigantic contractors which control the big trade shows. Yep…

The trade unions have been pushing for audits of trade-show contractors to ensure they pass along labor cost savings to customers. The McPier board approved a softer version, recommending only that McPier have the right to review and verify contractor billing statements.

The contractors are hugely powerful and the insiders know it. They can very easily direct shows away from McCormick Place to the point where the buildings would be forever empty. And the unions are right that we ought to know how big their markups really are. But, the contractors have the biggest guns in the room by far, so they were coddled.

The board’s biggest decision was to eliminate Focus One…

(T)he board voted 4-3 to recommend eliminating Focus One, the in-house electrical service whose high prices have been a source of customer anger, and to allow trade shows to hire outside contractors.

Mind-boggling markups on electricity, electrical services, Internet, etc. had to go. Problem is, that’s how McPier pays its staff salaries. So, they want an annual operating subsidy and a debt restructuring…

To make the recommended package click, McPier is seeking a $20 million to $25 million annual operating subsidy from Springfield, in addition to a restructuring of its expansion debt.

I was told yesterday that the subsidy probably wouldn’t begin for about 18 months.

The rest of the board’s proposed reforms don’t look too bad, however…

# In terms of new work rules, the interim board recommends making union workers employees of McPier and reducing by half the number of crews required to set up a trade show.

# State and city marketing dollars allocated to the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau to attract trade shows should go directly to McPier, the board decided. […]

# Exhibitors will now be allowed to bring in food from outside restaurants and caterers.

Even the Tribune editorial board was laudatory…

These changes, at first blush, look like they would go a long way to answer the biggest criticisms of McCormick Place customers who have been threatening to take some of the nation’s biggest trade shows to other cities. The customers have been begging McCormick Place to make its operations affordable. They’re tired of getting fleeced.

* Roundup…

* Truth in tuition

* Push to eliminate free rides for seniors fails in state Senate

* All seniors get to keep riding the train for free

* Two lawmakers fight for good government

* State wants every child to have savings account

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 1:49 pm

Comments

Professor Quinn is in the wrong classroom.

Comment by Brennan Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 1:55 pm
Quinn backed off????
What a surprise!

Comment by Bill Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 1:55 pm
Why stop with I-tunes? Let’s tax street performers, juke boxes church choirs and people whistling.

Comment by Honest Abe Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:00 pm
If Quinn didn’t “advocate” the iTunes tax, then why on earth did he bring it up?

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:08 pm
iTax is iGone? Great news….

Comment by Knome Sane Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:11 pm
Quinn flips on Itunes tax. Wow just like every other position he has ever taken Quinn changes his mind. After Nov Quinn should look into opening a Waffle house franchise.

Comment by fed up Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:11 pm
Is Quinn familiar with iTunes, or is he still hanging onto Napster? I heard his “new puppy” tax also did not go over well…/s

Being from downstate I didn’t realize how messed up McPier is. Glad to see at least some progress being made in straightening it out.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:13 pm
Vote Quimby, That was funny - don’t you realize that PQ has an 8track tape player in his Chevy Vega?

Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:52 pm
I simply don’t get the refusal to make “free rides for seniors” means-based. Seriously? Is there a hugely influential millionaire-senior voting block in Chicago that want free CTA rides THAT badly?

What’s the background story there? Is there a particular union or interest group that has that much of a vested interest in free CTA for millionaires?

Comment by AnonToo Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:55 pm
And the reason I ask that is that, even though the savings will barely be a drop in the bucket to close our financial gap, it’s certainly low-hanging fruit. If there’s no political will to cut even that, then how is Quinn or the democratic senate actually have the backbone to cut anything? To be fair, Cullerton actually broke with his party and the vote failed 6-7. But still….

Comment by AnonToo Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:57 pm
Can someone PLEAAASSEEE lend that man a spine? Pretty please with sugar on top.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 2:59 pm
14 states have a music download tax. It actually wasn’t that bad of an idea. The state got that money when people bought records in a store. The legislature is scared to take action on anything. They won’t cut and they won’t raise revenue. What a profile in courage.

Comment by Niles Township Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 3:05 pm
I don’t think coming up with an idea and then backing off it after constructive discussion is flopping. Anyone who has ever worked on a team or been involved in any creative/constructive process knows this is just how it works. Per what Niles Township says, it could have been a good idea, but other legislators seem to lack a spine

Comment by jonbtuba Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 3:51 pm
Spineless IL legislative leadership on display yet again for all to see…nice going folks…reminds of the episode in Seinfeld where George knocks over an old lady at a birthday party in order to get out first after someone yells fire…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 4:10 pm
jonbtuba,

Quinn has been doing this constantly. He proposes something smart. Gets some flack. Backs off. Doesn’t matter how right he is or how it should be manageable politically. It’s a HUGE problem.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 4:44 pm
So when I listen to my ipod while going to the local pub to play video poker, I can be taxed on the way to be taxed, while walking or jogging on the trail that all that stuff financed?

Comment by InParis Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 5:33 pm
I vote for another ’structural’ amendment…this time down to 1 rep and 1 senator. We’re all being played by these guys with the same stuff year after year. Looks like this time it was the House’s turn to be practical and the Senate’s turn to be warm and fuzzy. If they can’t get rid of free rides, they can’t cut anything.

Comment by Park Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 6:39 pm
Uh huh. The “State” wants every kid to have a savings account?

Is the “State” also going to ensure that the Banks will not deduct $5 or so per month from that account whenever the kid and his family can’t or forget to make a deposit beyond a three-month period?

Or at least make sure that the KID doesn’t owe the BANK money after they keep hitting his or her account with their “fees” for not making a deposit?

I don’t know whether stopping that practice is an R or D value, but I don’t care.

Stealing from a kid is stealing from a kid.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 6:43 pm
You guys really want to put up with this for the next four years? Really??

Comment by Park Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 8:00 pm
Sorry, put up with what, Park?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 22, 10 @ 8:09 pm