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Senate Dems try to go it alone with their own budget plan

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Illinois

* As I write this, the two Senate approp committees are debating the spending and cutting aspects of this legislation…

Senate Democrats on Tuesday plan to push ahead with a new budget proposal that includes an income tax hike and an expansion of the state sales tax, saying they are no longer willing to wait for a broader deal with Republicans. […]

“We recognize the future of this state is at stake, and we are increasingly willing to govern notwithstanding the political costs of doing so,” said Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park. “I think we have reached the point where citizens of Illinois are more willing to tolerate a revenue increase than they are continued inaction in the face of a crisis.” […]

Democrats spent the weekend tweaking the spending plan, and unveiled an updated proposal late Monday. It calls for spending $37.3 billion after raising about $5 billion through the tax hikes; a floor vote is expected Tuesday, said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat and key budget negotiator. […]

The blueprint relies on the passage of companion legislation that would raise the personal income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, which is just below the 5 percent rate in place before Rauner took office. The corporate income tax rate would be hiked from 5.25 percent to 7 percent.

Meanwhile, the state’s share of the 6.25 percent sales tax would be extended to various services not currently covered, such as dry cleaning. The proposal also calls for ending three corporate tax breaks, including requiring companies that drill on the outer continental shelf and do business in Illinois to pay income taxes.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:33 am

Comments

Typical democratic solution, Tax and Spend!

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:41 am
Is there a breakdown of the exact services that would be taxed?

Comment by Romeo Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:44 am
Actually, this is tax and cut. The spending already happened. Now they are trying to pay for that spending.

Comment by SAP Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:48 am
Finally, someone leading where the governor has not. This governor is a total failure and has repeatedly demonstrated he has no intention of leading. Glad to see the senate will finally do his job.

Comment by Adults in the room Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:51 am
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. —Peter Drucker

Comment by Adults in the room Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:57 am
“Typical democratic solution, Tax and Spend”

The nerve of those guys to be addressing revenue and expenses, and in a budget, of all places. What is the state coming to? /s

Comment by Cog Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 9:57 am
Applause to Senator Stean dressing down Rose in the hearing today. The Republicans are sitting back, more than happy to let the Dems be the “bad guys” by doing what needs to be done to get our State back on track. As others said, this is not going to be done within a year, two years, or even four. it is going to take a decade or more just to right the ship, and still we will have lost so much that the ship will still be leaking for at least a generation to come. I would strongly suggest that the Republicans that are being so self-righteous and smug right now look to the east to see what a temperament like that can cost. It’s easy to be the backseat driver, but complain enough, and you get left at the side of the road. Or, if you become the driver, all you may be left with is that old “trash can van”.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:01 am
I’m reasonably confident that the cuts the Senate Democrats include in their budget will go far beyond those identified by Rauner’s agency heads. I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ll also predict their budget won’t include a $4-5 Billion line item titled working together on a grand bargain.

Comment by AC Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:02 am
Huge applause from me. But Harmon’s “we are increasingly willing to govern notwithstanding the political costs of doing so” is not the greatest quote of all time.

That aside, well done Senate Dems!

Comment by Can Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:07 am
I wouldn’t call Mr. Rose someone concerned about too much except for Rauner.

When it comes to “worrying” about higher education or even downstate concerns, Mr. Rose made things clear, he’s with Rauner first, last, and everything in between.

The “tax” excuse? It’s is a ruse.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:12 am
Yes indeed. The same Democratic party that espouses protecting the working poor and middle classes. Any language behind the pursuit of a progressive income tax will be left to the lies of the campaign season. Promise, spend and leave the debt to future generations. The cycle never ends.

Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:12 am
The Dems are clearly protecting their base with this gambit - hoping that the union vote that is being shielded from sacrifice will offset the anti-tax sentiment. Emphasis on no property tax freeze - as stated on the record again yesterday Harmon is going to bat for the unions.

Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:12 am
Wouldn’t extending the state sales tax to certain services imply that county and municipal levels would tax these services as well? I would think the locals would be OK with this, considering a small offset if the LGDF is frozen or reduced.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:17 am
===The Dems are clearly protecting their base with this gambit - hoping that the union vote that is being shielded from sacrifice will offset the anti-tax sentiment===

Good thing Rauner proposed a balance budget to…

Oh.

I guess Rauner is protecting the destruction Raunerites want.

Right? Exactly right.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:21 am
This may be good public policy but it is bad politics. Dems can’t be seen as to blame for what is needed to fix the Rauner train wreck! Better to go into session overtime and government shutdown, when the public expects compromise, and blame is shared. Or propose a $32B budget to show how bad it would be if taxes aren’t increased.

Comment by Simple Simon Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:22 am
–The corporate income tax rate would be hiked from 5.25 percent to 7 percent.–

I don’t know if this is accurate, but the Tax Foundation says Illinois has 2 separate corporate tax rates - there’s another at 2.5 percent - which would mean this plan would raise corporate taxes to 9.5%.

So yeah, we’ll be able to better educate our kids at the state universities to prepare them for their careers somewhere outside of Illinois, because this sure isn’t going to lure a lot of businesses to come here.

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:24 am
==Emphasis on no property tax freeze - as stated on the record again yesterday Harmon is going to bat for the unions.==

My understanding is that Harmon’s Oak Park recently passed a contentious referendum that will hike OP property taxes over $700/yr on a typical home. Considering how high property taxes are in his home town even before the hike, it’s sad that he can’t even acknowledge the need for a temporary freeze.

But as long as the unions are Harmon’s Steinbrenner, he will continue to bat for them as you said. His constituents, not so much.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:25 am
The bill needs an added 1% “Budget Impasse Surcharge” applied to all income, including retirement income, that expires once greater than 99% of invoices are not eligible for interest under the State Prompt Payment Act.

Comment by AC Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:25 am
From the Tribune article: “Discussions reached the latest boiling point last week as Democrats decided to forge ahead with votes on portions of the budget package in spite of opposition from Republicans, who said more time was needed to strike a deal.”

More time is needed? Please. Nine days remain in the session, including today. What the Raunerite Party really means is that they have zero interest in passing a budget.

Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:30 am
Senator Chapin Rose (as tweeted out by the ILGOP today): Depending on how the court rules, this budget would be $435 million out of balance.

So, Senator, if this is the same spending level as Rauner’s proposed budget, would you have voted Green on his if it were presented as $435 million out of balance? And, BTW, every day this budget is delayed is another $11 million added to the State debt. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:32 am
Wait, wait, the Senate Republicans are just asking for a little more time to try and improve the legislation. Yes, I know its May 23rd, but they need just a little more time.

Never have so many worked so long to achieve so little.

Comment by Tommydanger Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:41 am
This is not leading, this is more of the same. We need massive cuts in state spending.

Comment by Ron Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:47 am
Ron. This is an area I agree with you on.

Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:52 am
## This may be good public policy but it is bad politics. ##

The reason illinois is in the shape it is in is because we continue to have too much of the latter and not enough of the former, from all parties involved.

Comment by Colby jack Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:53 am
Both parties may too often put politics before policy, but the Ds get no credit at all for passing the 2011 tax increase entirely by themselves, putting the state on the path of fiscal sanity and putting their reelections on the line. Rs have sat on the sidelines smugly, visualizing their campaign ads.

Comment by Simple Simon Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:08 pm
=This is not leading, this is more of the same. We need massive cuts in state spending.=
Re-defining old bills as “new spending” and retrograde actions as “reform” is where the uber-wealthy and their followers continue to win.
Honest and ethical people who want to eliminate waste AND pay our bills are left out.

“We recognize the future of this state is at stake, and we are increasingly willing to govern notwithstanding the political costs of doing so,” said Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.
Also to suggest that their is a “political price” for doing right = voters will punish those who want to pay bills owed, doesn’t make the people of IL look good.

Comment by Deadbeat Conservative Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:20 pm
=== voters will punish those who want to pay bills owed, doesn’t make the people of IL look good. ===

Meh. If the shoe fits…

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:21 pm
==We need massive cuts in state spending==

If it’s based on Brady’s bill, sans some items like Medicaid cuts, it cuts somewhere north of $4 billion. I’m not sure what “massive” means but that’s pretty massive in my book.

I think some of you are living in a fantasy land if you think any budget now can be balanced with cuts only.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 1:36 pm