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* Center Square on a House GOP press conference this morning…
House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said Republicans are worried that under House Speaker Michael Madigan, past is precedent. Durkin raised concerns about lawmakers trying to sneak a tax increase through the legislature during the lame-duck session.
“Call your state Representative now, let them know that you are not for more taxes and they must reject Madigan as Speaker for the next General Assembly,” Durkin said. […]
House Revenue Committee Chairman state Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, said he doesn’t expect a last-minute tax increase to surface this year despite a 2011 tax hike passed during the lame-duck session.
“It really is not going to be easy for us in a convention center during COVID with a leadership fight going forth to then turnaround and also pass a tax increase,” Zalewski said. […]
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said lawmakers could discuss increasing the state’s existing 4.95 percent flat income tax. But, he said they have to have the conversation about increased revenue.
“Hopefully we look at revenue streams that will deal with those that have the ability to pay more,” Ford said.
Ford said it’s important any proposal be vetted with public input before being voted on.
Zalewski said there are ideas some House Democrats have proposed to close what they say are corporate tax loopholes, but he said with the federal stimulus giving money for education and other things the state typically funds, there a bit of a cushion to get to the new general assembly that begins work after Jan. 13.
Republicans have said the state needs to cut spending, not increase revenue.
* Sun-Times…
Demmer said the appropriations committees of the House and the Senate should meet and bring in agency directors and leaders in the state’s executive branch to see what ideas they’ve shared with the governor about potential cuts to their budget as a starting point for talking about the state’s finances.
“We need to understand what the options are, and hear directly from individuals who are responsible for carrying out the budgets, what options exist,” Demmer said. “The Legislature needs to be involved in this. This is no longer a situation where one person can govern. We need to work on this together, and the way to do that is by convening appropriations committees to hear directly from the people responsible for this.”
State House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said the GOP news conference was just “politics as usual.”
“I have not heard of any tax increase proposals,” Harris said, adding that Republicans are following “their traditional path” of saying there should be budget cuts though they’re not proposing any cuts of their own.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:21 pm
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super minority doing what the super minority does: CRY WOLF
Comment by NotRich Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:24 pm
They are not CRYING WOLF. The state is in a real financial mess.
They are also not drawing up a balanced budget proposal of their own- as far as I can tell.
They just snipe and that does not get the job done or even play well politically.
Comment by Unconventionalwisdom Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:30 pm
We’re still waiting for the GOP to present their ideas to balance the budget. But they couldn’t even present ideas while they had a guy from their party in office, so I won’t hold my breath.
Comment by Ummm Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:44 pm
The tax hike is inevitable. Get it over with.
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:58 pm
I don’t blame Leader Durkin or other Raunerites.
Nope.
You need to be able to count noses to grasp if something will pass. They’re out of practice.
A tax hike is a’comin’, how the governor and the majority want to play it is up for discussion, but Zalewski has the most rational, honest thought to the governing (and the politics) of the now.
So, ok, they said it, “beware”
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 4:06 pm
A tax hike should happen during the lame duck session, but it probably won’t. As Blue Dog said, it has to happen sooner or later; better to get it over with and start the clock on forgetting about it before the next election.
Comment by RNUG Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 4:10 pm
I’d give the Republicans the option to vote for higher taxes. If that was unsuccessful, I’d take them at their word and close state institutions located in Republican-held districts.
Less government has got to start somewhere, so why not begin with those who espouse it the most?
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 4:14 pm
===super minority doing what the super minority does: CRY WOLF===
And yet Speaker Madigan told the Black Caucus in his “interview” he was open to a tax hike if the Governor requested it. Little more going on than crying wolf.
Comment by Nagidam Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 4:14 pm
-The tax hike is inevitable-
For those who haven’t noticed , JB Fitness just raised the gas tax by 11 cents a gallon. The greed of the big government coalition means taxpayers have to have a lower standard of living.
Comment by Marge from the Southside Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:01 pm
Point of historic interest
The last lame-duck income tax increase occurred in the closing hours of the 96th General Assembly in January, 2011, when Democrats pushed through a 67-percent hike in rates with no Republican votes. While conventional wisdom suggests those voting for higher taxes suffer consequences at the polls, in fact none of the 59 Democrats who voted “yes” and then ran again in 2012 lost to a Republican, although one lost a primary race in a Chicago district. On the other hand, six of the 52 Republicans who voted “no” and sought another term were defeated, two by primary challengers and four by Democratic opponents.
Charlie Wheeler
Comment by Charlie Wheeler Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:07 pm
=== the big government coalition===
Are you avoiding “Combine”, because had you used “Combine” I coulda got a “Bingo”
- Charlie Wheeler -
Happy 2021, thanks for the context, as always.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:10 pm
- Moe Berg -
Many of the oppression studies programs , in higher ed, could be eliminated. It would save a lot of money.
Comment by Brass Pills Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:10 pm
@Marge from the Southside:
Did Gov. Pritzker do that by himself, or did a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and the governor do it?
Is the purpose to rebuild the state’s crumbling infrastructure or just “greed”?
Do infrastructure investments improve Illinoisans’ “standard of living” and create jobs?
Without funds to pay for capital projects, how would they get built?
What, in specific, would you have done instead?
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:13 pm
@ Brass Pills
“It would save a lot of money.”
Like, how much are we talking, here? Tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions?
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:14 pm
Interesting information by Charlie Wheeler. I don’t think standing by complaining about taxes but offering no solutions will pave the way to becoming a majority party. The GOP probably won’t change, they’ve been doing this for years. I hope they prove me wrong and offer some budget cuts, especially legal budget cuts.
Comment by The Dude Abides Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 5:28 pm
I agree with those above that say a tax hike is inevitable. The majority party in this state has always substituted its opinion over the will of the voters, who sent them a clear message on hiking taxes during a pandemic. The only question I have is why don’t our reps ever get the message? Let’s see the cuts first. Let implement them and have them take effect. Then, maybe we could discuss additional revenues.
Comment by Really Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 8:47 am
Pass an increase already. Times a wastin’ and the state’s finances can’t wait.
Comment by Funtimes Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 8:51 am
- Really -
There’s not enough cuts to cover revenue shortfalls.
You know this, you’ve been told this ad nauseum.
You are, at this point, willfully ignorant to things you know.
Good to know things don’t change with a new year.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 8:54 am
* There’s not enough cuts to cover revenue shortfalls.*
There are always enough cuts to cover revenue shortfalls, it’s just having the testicular fortitude to do it.
* We’re still waiting for the GOP to present their ideas *
Why? Dems have the government, govern. Childish gotcha politics is why government isn’t trusted, and a lack of trust is why the progressive tax failed, even with democrats.
Comment by Sweet Tea Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 9:17 am
=== There are always enough cuts to cover revenue shortfalls, it’s just having the testicular fortitude to do it.===
When Rauner had NO budgets, for two years, there was *still* a monetary shortfall… and that was Illinois functioning by court order.
Keep up, this isn’t Facebook.
=== Dems have the government, govern.===
Then the downstate tax eaters should feel the hardest, deepest pain… DNR, Prisons, Higher Ed… hurt downstate where every dollar sent, downstate gets 2 dollars back.
Yeah. It’s smart. Let the Dems do it alone.
(Sigh)
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 9:21 am
All I know is up here, Andrew Chesney is the state rep and whenever I ask him to actually make suggestions as to how to tackle the fiscal problems of Illinois I either get no answer or “Madigan, Madigan, Madigan” much like some folks yell “Lock her up”. “Laughing Boy” Chesney was one of the folks behind the Madigan hearings & methinks he imagines himself as a rising Republican star. If he, in fact, is then this state is gonna be in even worse shape than it is now. Mendacity at its finest.
Comment by Galena Guy Tuesday, Jan 5, 21 @ 2:04 pm