Gov's budget would hike taxes and strip local towns of money

By Illinois Statehouse News

Gov. Pat Quinn gave lawmakers two choices. Raise the income tax rate by one-third or make more than one billion dollars in cuts to schools.

In his annual budget address Wednesday, Quinn said the state’s finances are in dire straits and will only get worse unless lawmakers can find a way to pump billions of new dollars into state government.

Reaction to Quinn's budget was swift.

Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said his village could lose $1.4 million in funding, blowing a big hole in village finances. Speaking to Newsradio 780 this afternoon, Zabrocki said he wished the governor had given local communities more warning. He also said cuts in services would have to make up the shortfall.

House Speaker Michael Madigan called it brave of Quinn to call for a tax increase.

"That doesn't mean it's going to happen," Madigan added in an interview with public television.

Quinn is targeting $1.3 billion in education cuts, and even more cuts in health care and social services. The governor says he will chop the budget, even though he says he thinks it is wrong to slash spending that much.

"The approach is both heartless and naive. Taking a chainsaw to our state budget for schools, and for healthcare, and for human services is just plain wrong," he said.

(Related commentary on potential local education cuts.)

His solution is a 1 percent income tax increase.

"That 1 percent will be enough to restore our education budget ... and allow us to get caught-up on some of the millions of dollars we owe to our public schools, our community colleges, and our four year universities."

But the governor acknowledged lawmakers are unlikely pass a tax increase.

Ouinn saising income taxes by one-third is necessary and told lawmakers they will have to face the consequences if school budgets are whacked.

"I've made some difficult and painful choices in the budget. And you must make tough choices as well. Either by approving a plan for new revenue for education. Or by passing a budget that will starve public education at every level, in every community in the state of Illinois."

Quinn’s income tax hike is one of his five "budget pillars." The Governor is also basing his $32.1 billion general revenue budget on $4 billion in borrowing, $2 billion in cuts, and another billion or so in new help from the federal government.

"There’s been a historic drop in state revenues, amounting to billions and billions of dollars. And we don’t expect our revenues to rebound in the coming fiscal year," said Quinn.

Illinois Statehouse News is a non-profit public affairs news organization.