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* The possibility of a do-nothing budget takes front and center in two weekend columns from longtime Statehouse reporters. First, Kurt Erickson…
Could Illinois lawmakers leave Springfield on May 31 without approving an income tax hike to help bail the state out of its deficit-addled condition? With two weeks to go before lawmakers are scheduled to adjourn for the spring, that possibility seemed very real last week.
Here’s an example: State Rep. Frank Mautino, R-Spring Valley, entered a hearing room in the Capitol to present a bill to a House committee.
Before he sat down to present his proposal, he told a lobbyist that Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed 50 percent hike in the income tax hike was going nowhere.
Mautino’s alternative: Legalize video poker.
Video poker would raise maybe $500 million in time… maybe. An income tax hike, whether the 1.5 percent proposed by Quinn or the alternate 1 percent floated by Senate President John Cullerton, would bring in more than $3 billion. That’s a whole lot of extra cutting.
Given the amount of work still to do, you have to figure it’s even odds Cullerton will fail [to adjourn by May 29th]. All four legislative leaders met together (a rarity) Friday and apparently agreed to go full speed ahead on ethics reforms and a capital plan, and both of those may be close to agreement.
But from the way Cullerton and others talked, the basic state budget is another matter.
Lawmakers could always decide just to punt, slap together a budget they know isn’t balanced, drop it on the governor’s desk and let him work it out. We’ve all seen how well that idea worked when they did it in 2008.
The budget is, indeed, the big problem. My own syndicated column talks about this, and quotes Cullerton on that problem. We’ll get to that tomorrow.
* Progress Illinois recently pointed to this quote by a Chicago legislator which may be quite accurate…
[Rep. Greg] Harris estimates there are currently 42 state representatives in support of the income tax increases needed to avoid programming cuts. The measure would need 60 votes to pass in the State House this month or a supermajority of 71 votes to pass after May 31.
It’s definitely an uphill climb.
* This lede is exactly why the governor and others want to exclude beer from any sales tax increase and just hike the tax on wine and liquor…
Look out, Joe Sixpack. The taxman is looking for you.
Key legislative leaders contemplated hiking the state’s tax on beer by 2.6 cents per six pack for the first time in a decade to help underwrite a proposed multibillion-dollar statewide construction program.
Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) confirmed talk of a beer tax, which would be part of a trio of liquor tax increases under consideration. Taxes of 13 cents per bottle of wine and 80 cents per bottle of hard liquor have been on the table.
“The beer people feel left out so we’re considering adding them,” Cullerton quipped.
That’s a silly thing to say by Cullerton. All he’s gonna do is make the reaction even more heated.
* And Kristen McQueary takes a look at the vote against Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s pension reform bill last week, which is hotly opposed by AFSCME and the teachers unions. The Republicans were the ones voting “No”…
Funny, isn’t it? That the Democrats, supposedly moored to labor unions, are spearheading pension reform, and the Republicans on McCarthy’s committee were the ones voting against it?
The Republicans who voted “no” were Raymond Poe and Rich Brauer, of Springfield, Dan Brady, of Bloomington, and Michael McAuliffe, of Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Now that’s political ideology upside-down. Welcome to Springfield.
Actually, that’s not so odd. Poe and Brauer both represent Springfield. Brady represents a public university and most of its employees. McAuliffe has been regularly endorsed by the AFL-CIO.
* Here’s a video I shared with subscribers on Friday. It’s Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno talking about what the leaders have decided so far on capital bill funding…
* Related…
* TANF Reform Bill On Its Way To Gov. Quinn
* Video poker, fees eyed in Illinois
* Transparency bill passes both houses, moves on to Quinn’s desk
posted by Rich Miller
Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 1:53 pm
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Sounds like Quinn better get his doomsday budget out there in a hurry to change some minds.
Comment by wordslinger Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 2:37 pm
Doomsday isn’t overstating it. The trade associations are looking at 30%-70% cuts in supported housing services, developmental disabilities, mental health, substance abuse, aging. And wait til the categoricals for K-12 education go bye-bye.
Quinn messed this up. He should have trotted out “doomsday” a month ago to let people know how bad it’ll be. It’s too late now to light the fires necessary to convince House Rs and a few more Ds to pass the income tax increase.
Erickson got part of it right, although video gaming, like the alcohol tax, is going to support the capital bill. But he and everyone else have so far missed the big part of the story–the size of the cuts.
Comment by Ilrino Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 6:03 pm
Somewhat off topic, but hysterical; read Madigan’s bill to fire 3,000 Ryan and Blago hacks as “The Rapture”. Tee hee!
Comment by Gregor Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 6:17 pm
We used to call them the Four Tops. Now the cloaks are off and it seems we have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Doomsday must be nigh !!
Comment by A Citizen Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 8:20 pm
==Before he sat down to present his proposal, he told a lobbyist that Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed 50 percent hike in the income tax hike was going nowhere.
Mautino’s alternative: Legalize video poker.==
I usually like Erikson’s stuff, but, as pointed out, this is a gross mischaracterization. The funding dedicated to pay off capital bonds is a separate issue from the $$$ necessary to fill the hole in the GRF. The bondholders demand a block solid revenue sources dedicated to paying them. The pension plans and agencies do not. The video poker tax is to pay off the capital bonds; Erikson knows that and shouldn’t be mixing the two. There’s enough confusion already.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 8:59 pm
I would like to know more about the two Dems (Colvin & Acevedo) were moved off of the P & P Committee prior to the vote for McCarthy’s pension reform bill. Had they remained on and voted “no,” the bill would have been done for.
Did they go willingly?
Also, will this bill actually save a significant amount of money, or is it a fig leaf to show that something is being done about those “expensive pension systems” and really saves little or nothing?
Comment by Pot calling kettle Sunday, May 17, 09 @ 9:10 pm
I believe Erickson was mistaken when he put the R behind Frank Mautino’s name. Frank is a Democrat as was his father Dick.
I know Balgo was a big problem and I am glad that he is gone but one thing the GA is showing us is that they still cannot get together and do what is necessary for the citizen’s of the state. It is illustrating that Blago was not the only reason we have this huge deficit. The politiking continues with each side trying to make the other side look bad. Many have said it before but it apparently needs repeating, the GA needs to move off their butts and stop working on all the feel good stuff and get down to working on the most important and difficult issue of the budget. If a tax increase and budget are not passed by May 31 the citizens of the state need to start recall for all of the legislative leaders. Are the citizens of the state going to complain about a tax increase? Of course they are. Are they going to take it out on the members who pushed it? Probably not because they know it is the only way out of this mess. Are the citizens going to be more upset if a doomsday budget is adopted due to inaction? Most definitely. Will they remember that when election time comes? Most definitely.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, May 18, 09 @ 1:04 pm
Sorry, the post above with the Anonymous monicker is mine. My com[puter is not picking up on saved usernames.
Comment by Irish Monday, May 18, 09 @ 1:09 pm