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A recent analysis found that both the budget proposal from Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and the one approved by Democratic lawmakers would leave the state with a more than $9 billion deficit.
Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, says that neither plan takes into account the shortfall from last fiscal year.
"The budget deficit carry forward from 2015 into 2016 is going to be $5.9 billion,” Martire said. “That will appear nowhere on state financial records. They won't have a balanced budget. Let's just be honest."
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…. Morning Shift to Gov. Rauner: Ralph Martire from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability has ripped your plan and he’s ripped the Democrats’ plan. His criticism of the Dems is that they’re spending money that isn’t there. His criticism of you is that
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According to every media account, Gov. Rauner won't entertain proposals to raise adequate tax revenue to fund core services, until the Democrat-controlled legislature accedes to his "pro-business" reforms.
In essence, these reforms involve: right-to-work initiatives that curtail the right to organize and to receive compensation predicated on prevailing wages; lowering workers' compensation costs by limiting rights to compensation for job-related injuries; and holding the line on property taxes.
Interestingly, while the media consistently refers to these initiatives as "pro-business," absolutely no coverage is devoted to delineating precisely how businesses would benefit. This is problematic, because it creates the misperception that because they're "pro-business," these reforms would create jobs and stimulate the economy. Which is contrary to what the evidence indicates can be expected.
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Apparently, there's a new battleground for Illinois politicos: the middle class.
So what would it take for decision makers to make good on their desire to support the middle class?
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In coming years, Chicago will need to find billions of dollars in new revenue to stabilize its beleaguered debt and pension obligations. And today there's renewed talk of an idea that has been shot down in the past: a city income tax. How would it work? Is it politically viable? And what would the impact be? The idea has aldermen split.
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RETIREMENT NEWS • by Kenneth A. Hauser, President
When to file for Social Security? Full retirement benefits can be collected at age 66 and for those born in 1960 or later, it’s 67. If you or a spouse has worked at least 10 years, you can start drawing benefits at any time between the
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Two tax policy organizations with distinct views released a joint report about Illinois revenue. It outlines how taxing services, such as haircuts and pet grooming, could generate up to two point one billion dollars in new annual revenue.
Ralph Martire, who is from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, says Illinois has one of the most narrow tax bases in the country.
"The Illinois sales tax applies pretty much just to the sale of products and misses services, and this is one of the real reasons why our sales tax doesn't function and--and frankly doesn't comport with the modern economy."
Republican Governor Bruce Rauner discussed during his campaign the possibility of taxing some services. However, there has been no movement in the legislature to pass a sales tax on services, even as lawmakers work to bridge a 6 billion dollar shortfall in the 2016 budget.
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It's relieving to know that, as a matter of Illinois state constitutional law, words in the English language actually have the meanings identified in the dictionary. Which is really what the Illinois Supreme Court ruled when it held that the "pension reform" legislation of 2013 was unconstitutional.
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As budget talks continue at the Statehouse, two organizations suggesting where Illinois needs to go financially. The Taxpayers' Federation and Center for Tax and Budget Accountability held a conference outlining possible solutions to the state's struggling fiscal situation.
With Democrats seeking more tax revenue and the Governor proposing numerous cuts, both groups agreed the state should apply the sales tax to more services, which they say would better balance the economy.