Article Week of April 16, 2007
The spring session of the 95th General Assembly will reconvene after
a two week spring break on Tuesday, April 16th. The remaining scheduled
days of the spring session will be action packed. When the House is gaveled
in at Noon on Tuesday, April 17th, there are two weeks remaining for House
Bills to pass out of the chamber and over to the Senate. A similar deadline
in the Senate is also looming. Starting May 1st, the House will consider
bills passed by the Senate. Also, during the month of May, the budget
will take center stage. The showdown over the governor’s Gross Receipts
Tax proposal is a huge part of the budget deal.
In addition, during the next few weeks, final General Assembly action on hundreds of new laws will take place. Of course, after passing both Houses, the Governor must still sign the bill for it to become law. However, these next six weeks are extremely important. If you are interested in particular legislation, you can track the status of any bills or even listen to the action live at www.ilga.gov
Over the past two weeks, much has been written and said about the Governor’s Gross Receipts Tax Proposal. The Governor even spent several days on a bus tour of Illinois in order to drum up support for the proposal. Our tax dollars paid for that tour. From the beginning I have not been a fan of the measure. There is a great deal of opposition to the proposal including members of the Governor’s own party. Comptroller Dan Hynes, Treasurer Alexis Giannoulias and, even his Lt. Governor Pat Quinn have vocally opposed the idea. The almost total opposition has not affected the Governor. Last week, the plan was attached to Senate Bill 1 as an amendment and is sponsored by Senate President Emil Jones. Next week, beginning Wednesday, the Senate will hold committee hearings on the proposal.
Those opposed to the plan will really step up the attack next week as a Gross Receipts Tax Lobby Day will be held in Springfield. The event starts at 10:00 AM at the Springfield Hilton and includes a rally at the Capitol at Noon. Thousands of farmers, business owners and consumers are expected to attend the rally. If you are opposed to the tax, I would suggest getting involved and making your voice heard. Your involvement and a huge crowd that day can make a difference in whether or not this proposal moves forward.
As I reviewed the contents of this $7.6 Billion tax increase proposal last week, I was reminded of a quote that I often used during the time I was a history teacher: “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” The quote was made in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson as he contemplated the future of our young nation.
Governor Blagojevich has proposed that $7.6 Billion of our hard earned dollars be paid in new taxes in order to pay for expanded state supported health care programs and support of public education. The tax dollars come from your labor, and I wonder, are they being taken under the pretense of the government taking care of people. In addition, he has proposed a tax that is hidden, will be paid eventually by consumers and will drive jobs out of the state. This is a bad proposal and must be stopped.
The unfortunate thing is that Illinois finds itself in a very difficult financial situation. Over the past few years, new government spending has been added which has caused a severe structural deficit to our state’s budget. While some folks have pushed hard for health care for all children and other “worthwhile” programs, the state has borrowed money, raided dedicated funds and even raided public pension funds to pay for the spending. As a result, today we find ourselves in a very tough financial situation. It will take hard work, leadership and courage to get us out of this situation.
At this time, due to the fact that we are already in this situation and likely must have new revenue to support education, we are faced with difficult choices. The alternatives to the Governor’s GRT proposal might not sound very good either. Our choices include the possibility of expanding gaming by putting a casino in Chicago and perhaps a couple of other locations while expanding slot positions at existing boats and allowing slots at horse racing venues, increasing the state income tax, and either increasing or expanding the base of the state sales tax. Another alternative might be a combination of all of these options.
I am truly interested in your thoughts as the budget battle heats up and we face other important issues during the next few weeks.
Check out www.ilga.gov and let me know what you think about these or any issues of importance to you.
E-mail me at (reddyunit1@aol.com); write to me at Box 125, Hutsonville, IL
62433 or call us at 618-563-4128. You can also keep up with important issues
at my web site (now with audio clips) - www.peopleforeddy.com