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*** UPDATE *** The House Personnel and Pensions Committee has scheduled a Sunday hearing in Springfield. Not sure what that means as of yet.
* Greg Hinz follows up on something I told subscribers over the weekend and then elaborated upon this morning…
As first reported by Rich Miller at Capitol Fax over the weekend, the deal centers on breaking up the big tax-reduction package that stalled in the Legislature last month into three separate pieces.
Piece one, according to a well-connected lobbyist, would give about $100 million a year in tax breaks to CME Group Inc., CBOE Holdings Inc. and Sears, as well as extending the corporate research-and-development tax credit and reviving the corporate loss carry-forward provision.
Bill No. 2 reportedly would raise the state’s earned-income tax credit for working folks. No. 3 would raise and adjust to inflation the standard deduction on the individual income tax.
For this deal to work, all three bills have to have enough support to make it through both houses and to Gov. Pat Quinn’s office. As his spokeswoman again repeated to me today, “We’re committed to help, so long as any deal also includes tax relief for working families.”
That could be particularly difficult in the House, where some Downstate Democrats are reluctant to back an earned-income tax credit hike, and few if any Republicans are believed to support it.
Rumors are spreading about a Springfield return next Monday, but those rumors are apparently premature. I’ll let you know when a return day is soup.
…Adding… To explain a bit more, the House polled members on a Monday return date, but the Senate Dems left Monday off their member poll. The SDems are now asking members about their availability for a Monday return. We’ll see what happens.
* In other news, Treasurer Dan Rutherford today reacted to criticism of some budget comments he made last week. Listen…
Defensive, perhaps?
* Roundup…
* Editorial: Double homicide, triple tragedy
* CPS Closings Spark Outcry
* Pastor camped out on motel roof joined by Occupy protesters - Activists move camp to former South Side drug den
* Warren: An Unlikely Window on the Economy
* Back of the Yards at center of ward remap struggle - Predominantly Latino neighborhood, now split among 5 aldermen, strives for unity
* Education Group Tries to Rebound After Diatribe
* Bernard Schoenburg: Trimmer steps into tough job with IFT
* State worker swapped use of Sox skybox for Lollapalooza passes
* You’ve got email — and a potential open meeting violation - Emails among public officials can be considered a meeting, one that bans the public
* Illinois AG, Citizens Utility Board push for Ameren rate cuts
* Des Plaines police, fire radios don’t work inside casino
* Metra to spend $100,000 to examine nonunion staff salaries
* Editorial: Quinn’s ploy could be waste removal spark
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:16 pm
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Couple thoughts:
1) The Treasurer for the State of Illinois is getting his Illinois numbers from another group and not State numbers? What?
2) Again, lots of talk, a lot I agree with, but no solutions. He needs to stop yapping his mouth and start coming up with solutions.
3) He is still out of touch on paying the back-log of unpaid bills. If you can pay something in 1 year, you don’t need bonding for it. A 1 year bonding plan is not a solution.
Comment by Ahoy Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:34 pm
re the standard deduction;
I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I wish the GA and the Gov would consider that 1, we can’t afford gift horses right now, and 2, indexing the standard deduction helps people making a lot of money, and most of them really won’t notice the difference, while the EITC helps people who do need and will notice a few extra dollars each year.
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:37 pm
Yeah, Ahoy, that is another problem…he confuses short-term borrowing with bonding. Your right, short-term borrowing makes no sense here.
Comment by Raising Kane Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:39 pm
Stever should better than most that this is the perfect time to afford “gift horses”
It is certain that this breaks will send the IL economy soaring to the moon.
People will race out and spend, hire, build and revenues will sky rocket
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:41 pm
–That could be particularly difficult in the House, where some Downstate Democrats are reluctant to back an earned-income tax credit hike,–
Huh? What kind of Democrats are those? They can’t distinguish between EITC and welfare?
Tell them they can sell it during their campaigns by encouraging everyone who claims EITC to use the credit to buy a gun.
Stand for something or you stand for nothing.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:45 pm
===by encouraging everyone who claims EITC to use the credit to buy a gun. ===
Laugh out loud funny. But not a bad idea…
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 1:46 pm
If you are a Downstate Democrat and you have an easier time handing tax breaks to CME, CBOE and Sears than your actual constituents through an expansion of the EITC, I really don’t know why you are a Democrat.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:12 pm
For Rutherford to say that the Civic Committee is a credible outside source on the state’s fiscal condition, and more expert than his own staff, made me sick to my stomach. The Civic Committee bends or creates numbers to suit their own political message, and can’t be used for any reasonable decision-making.
He’s right that we have big problems, but to use significantly wrong numbers just destroys his credibility, and harms the state. Rutherford should be correcting the Civic Comm’s numbers, as part of his job, not repeating them to groups and businesses around the state. This incompetence should lead to his removal from office. When will the smarter, non-political members of his staff make sure he is provided with, and uses the best numbers reflecting reality?
Comment by walkinfool Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:17 pm
Sounds like the GA is back to hanging ornaments on this tree - now via 3 disparate bills instead of the single one they began with. Interesting approach, probably has a decent shot to work.
Wonder if the total price tag will triple as well when all is said and done?
Any guesses on where the theater $ will wind up at? Started at $1 million, then the Senate upped it to $2 million, so I’ll go with $4.5 million. Just because.
Let’s see who winds up with what presents this time. Happy Holidays, indeed.
Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:17 pm
===When will the smarter, non-political members of his staff===
That can get you exiled, apparently.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:32 pm
If there are three separate bills, yet each of the three is dependent on the other pieces, aren’t we in effect still talking about one piece of legislation? in other words, I’m not sensing any real movement here.
Comment by Flip Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:56 pm
Look at it this way, Flip, some people can only vote for one or two pieces, so, yeah, it’s progress.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:57 pm
Rich writes “according to a well-connected lobbyist, would give about $100 million a year in tax breaks to CME Group Inc., CBOE Holdings Inc. and Sears.” I assume we are talking here $100 million total each year, correct. Because during the floor debate on the last tax break bill HB 1883 I recall hearing Rep Brady explain under question that the CME by 2014 would be paying less taxes than it is currently. I also recall the number for Sears was around $15 million and I never heard a number for the CBOE. So it is really $100 million each year for all three of these breaks? No fuzzy math no clauses for future years?
Comment by Rod Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 3:58 pm
===Rich writes “according to a well-connected lobbyist, ===
No. Greg wrote that. Try to keep up.
And it appears to be $100 mil for CME and Sears combined, but that’s just state dollars.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 4:03 pm
Just got a notice of a sunday, december 11 4 pm committee hearing in springfield. Are they going back in monday?
Comment by Fred Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 4:29 pm
Appears to be the pension committee. Not sure yet what it means.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 4:34 pm
So, I listed to the Rutherford clip. Then, a little bewildered by some of the comments on here, I listened again.
Everything he said made perfect sense to me. Some of you who are complaining, exactly what did he say that you disagree with, and why?
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 4:35 pm
I’m hearing session will be next Tuesday, December 13.
Pension committee could be used to address “unintended consequences” of HB 3813 ID’d by Currie.
Comment by unclesam Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 9:01 pm
Do people realize that the “unintended consequences” Rep. Currie fears would be Dennis Gannon and the nearly two dozen other union bosses who got Chicago city pensions based on their union — as opposed to municipal — pay might get reduced.
Aren’t you all the same people who were outraged when these stories were reported?
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Dec 5, 11 @ 9:19 pm