By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – With two weeks to go until the Illinois legislature’s scheduled adjournment, senators who sit on appropriations committees heard the not-greatest hits of how the state is doing.
Laurence Msall, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation, shared findings of a report based on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget.
“The uncertainty of what the state of Illinois is going to do next. The temporary income tax not tied to any plan” to reduce spending; “The careening from one crisis to the next. It is really having a much worse economic development impact on our state” than any particular rating, ranking, or rate.
Msall, responding to a point about whether the state has a spending problem or a revenue problem, says the state now has enough revenue to spend $32 billion, but some people want to spend more than $32 billion.
The report’s suggestions are to consider: raising the income tax from the current 3.75 percent to 4.25 percent; beginning to tax retirement income; and applying the sales tax to services.
The legislature is scheduled to adjourn May 31. After that, bills need a three-fifths majority, rather than a simple majority, to pass. The state’s fiscal year ends June 30.
