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Priorities, priorities

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Illinois

* A school with a convicted felon at the helm that has never applied for not-for-profit status and hasn’t paid all its taxes gets a million dollars from the governor “by mistake.” Other schools aren’t so lucky…

During his 2006 re-election bid, Blagojevich made headlines when he told Carterville school officials he would give them $1.9 million to repair and improve their crumbling high school.

But, as of Thursday, records show the Williamson County district has received less than half of that amount from the state.

‘’It has created a tremendous hardship on us,'’ said Carterville Superintendent Tim Bleyer.

* And forget about it if you rely on a conservation district…

A large group of lawmakers want Gov. Rod Blagojevich to send money to soil and water conservation districts across the state, saying they could close by the end of the year without cash. […]

But a Blagojevich budget spokeswoman says the governor won’t be doing that anytime soon. Spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said lawmakers last year approved a budget that calls for spending $750 million more than the state will take in this year. So Blagojevich won’t be giving the conservation agencies any more money until that budget hole is filled.

‘’These are the same lawmakers that put the state in this situation by overestimating their revenue projections,'’ Quinn said.

* Yesterday, the Senate approved a plan to sweep a record $530 million from special state funds in order to provide some pork for legislators, expand health care programs and patch budget holes. The governor is now turning up the heat on the House by threatening big budget cuts…

To avoid cuts, the governor’s budget office has instructed university presidents to lobby members of the House to approve the controversial transfer of money. […]

Blagojevich spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said funding for other state programs, including the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture and early childhood and secondary education programs, also could face cuts if the fund transfer concept isn’t approved.

* One Democrat unveiled this proposal yesterday…

A state lawmaker wants voters to decide if people making more than $250,000 a year should have their Illinois income tax doubled, with the billions of new dollars paying for education, roads and tax breaks for everyone else…. State tax data shows 107,000 people in the state made more than $250,000. That’s roughly 5 percent of all tax filers.

That isn’t going anywhere.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 5:46 am

Comments

So, people making over $250,000 would have the tax doubled on all of their income, or only the amount above $250,000? If the latter, billions seems a bit optimistic, since presumably a significant percentage of those higher incomes would cluster near the $250,000 amount. If the former—somebody making $251,000 suddenly has their income tax doubled on the whole amount? Sounds a bit goofy.

Kudos to the Dems for trying, but they need to go back to the drawing board. What is needed is significant property tax relief and a progressive income tax, so the wealthy pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes. It’s not even clear that
wealthy Illinois residents would object that much,
but if they do, well, the ARE a rather small minority. Obama, ever more likely to be our next Prez, has proposed a higher federal tax rate on the rich, and yet has gotten huge support from
wealthy citizens. A progressive income tax is not a political career-killer.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 7:54 am
Oh, yes, that’s it, Blago, our savior of children and all his healthcare concerns for them and and families is threatening to slash early childhood educational programs. Hey, maybe, Rod, if you cut them enough you can keep at risk children down and out. What’s with the ‘I will punish the children of this state unless I get what I want’?

Comment by Princeville Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 8:18 am
Cassandra: It would probably raise a lot more than first glance might indicate. The real revenue comes from taxing millionaires at that higher rate. a decade ago, there were over 10,000 millionaires in Illinois, I have no doubt that number is much higher and they are wealthier than they were then. When Pat Quinn proposed this in 2003, it was estimated that it would impact 1.4 percent of taxpayers and generate $1.15 billion in new revenue.

That is why many states (and the feds) have a graduated tax structure.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 9:29 am
Here we go again with the politics of avarice.

At best you can wring out another 1.5b out of these people annually. But at what cost?

Some will leave, others will move their money elsewhere, others will cut back on services they use, putting people out of work. The net collected will be much less than expected.

Worst of all, this amount will be consumed by the government without solving any of the current problems.

Where will they go next for more money to build airports that no one wants and baseball stadiums from billionaires?

Remember the poem by Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

One they are done with the ‘rich’ they will come for you. You will be surprised to learn how quickly you become the rich and suffer their fate.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 9:39 am
Is there a list of schools that HAVE NOT been promised $1 to $2 million? On the back of a bar napkin, maybe?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 9:41 am
So there is no avarice among the super wealthy? The supporting argument for those at the top at a higher rate is that they receive more benefit from the government and should therefore contribute more. I doubt if they would leave the state, since they would likely encounter a graduated tax in another state.

The poem is nice, but is more a reference to the lack of attention to those at the bottom of the socio-economic scale being ignored. I would suggest that the current underfunding of education and programs that benefit those folks is the real problem facing the state and that those at the top will ultimately pay when they cannot find educated workers leading to a lack of good paying jobs leading to a lack of customers who can fuel the economy.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 11:01 am
Oh, this is funny. The governor threatening to cut early childhood educatioln as a press release today on a national conf. IL is partaking in and singing praises towards IL early childhood education.

Comment by Princeville Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 11:02 am
Cassandra, I agree with you

Comment by Rolling Meadows Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 11:04 am
Yes, a three percent increase in the income tax (to 6%) would indeed raise a lot of money. But look before you leap. The majority of these live in the Chicago MSA. They are mobile. Wisconsin and Indiana beckon…and many will take their companies with them, and their charitable contributions — that is from where most of the NFPs get their money.

Let’s see some dynamic analysis on this.

Comment by Truthful James Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 11:53 am
When I make my first million or so, I want to help change the tax laws. I’d rather the income tax stay flat and low. I’ve heard there are people who want a progressive tax. I’d really want to defeat that.

Comment by Levois Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 12:38 pm
It seems to me that a small, broad-based tax which everyone or almost everyone pays will be a more reliable revenue source than a large tax imposed on a small group of people — because the impacted group will simply find ways to avoid paying it.
This happened with the short-lived federal luxury yacht tax some years back: all it did was prompt the super-rich folk who could afford to buy yachts to buy them in other countries. The result was the feds didn’t get much revenue from the tax, while a significant number of Americans who had had jobs building those vessels were thrown out of work.
This is not to say that a graduated state income tax similar to the federal income tax can’t work; but making the top rates too high is more likely than not to backfire.
Some high-earners may decide to move out of state if it can be proven that the money they save over time by living in a lower-tax state will exceed the cost of moving and living there. More likely, they will simply find ways to shift their income sources in such a way that they will be taxed in states other than Illinois.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 1:42 pm
Will this tax affect small business? I believe small business owners declare themselves an S-corporation and claim their business income on their personal income taxes thereby avoiding corporate income taxes designed for large companies. Not that Illinois cares much for the efforts of small business anyway. This state will continue to find more things/people to tax until it looks like Michigan in terms of unemployment and tax structure. Hopefully our family is leaving soon. I will not miss Cook County. God forbid these corupt politicians not hire their unqualified relatives/friends. Unbelievable.

Comment by Anon Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 1:57 pm
The Smith Amendment has legs if House Republicans allow a few of their members to vote for it. Since this could be the only vehicle for capital funding, which GOP leaders have been pushing for, they may be tempted to put on the handful of votes required.

Comment by fightforjustice Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 6:36 pm
Riiggghhhhttttt…..the Gov first says IDNR should be self sufficient, and now wants to sweep the funds that could let them be self sufficient. I get it……no wait….what???Where am I?

Comment by Reformed Friday, Apr 4, 08 @ 10:26 pm