Hundreds showed up for the Chicago kick-off of the Responsible Budget Coalition on September 29th. The group represents over 100 organizations who have come together around one clear goal–a state budget that includes a significant revenue increase.
From the Coalition’s website:
We call on every elected official in Illinois to acknowledge that this fiscal crisis, brought on by a long-standing structural budget deficit and an economic downturn, cannot be solved without significant new revenue. The revenue mix contained in HB 174—a comprehensive tax-reform package passed by the Illinois Senate and approved by a committee of the Illinois House—is the most responsible framework for such a solution.
Tuesday’s kick-off featured Senate President John Cullerton, Illinois Board of Education Chairman Jesse Ruiz, former Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, and many others who shared their stories of the harm caused by deep budget cuts.
From ABC 7 News:
A new organization called the Responsible Budget Coalition has united 93 groups to try to solve the state’s budget crisis.
The coalition seeks public and legislative support for tax reform to raise more revenue, maintain public services, and save jobs.
Senate President John Cullerton said the senate wanted to be fair to low and moderate income-earners when it voted to increase the state income tax.
“So we said: Let’s increase the earned income tax credit. Let’s increase the personal exemption, and put that right in the bill. And give some property tax relief to folks who pay property tax. We put that in the bill,” said John Cullerton, (D) Senate president.
Senator Cullerton urged the House to pass that legislation, so Illinois can pay its bills on time, fund its pensions, and meet its other needs.
© 2010 Campaign For Illinois' Future |
Don Gentry says:
TAXES
Income tax is probably the best way for the government to collect the revenue it needs to do the job we expect it to do. I think corporate income tax should be kept to a minimum because they produce revenue through payroll, dividends, and capital gains. They should not be exempt because they are considered enmities, with rights, much like people. As such, they require oversight, just like people. Isn’t it about time that we realize the need for a tax increase, both Federal and State. Federal, because we are fighting a costly war on terrorism, for which, at this time, there is no end in sight. We also need to consider the effects that a growing national debt will have on future generations. State, because we have important programs like education that are going to be short changed. Also, if I were in state government, I would really be embarrassed by the unpaid, overdue bills. In state government, pay as you go is best, not barrowing.
Is this really a bad time? Will we be hurting an already sluggish economy? I say there will never be a good time. During the depression, it was government jobs programs that got us back on track. We need to stop using the bad words like “big government” or “entitlements” as reasons for saying no to more taxes.
Of course we can all agree that there are lots of examples of wasteful spending that need to be eliminated. I say eliminating wasteful spending is a small, though important, part of the problem. What is wasteful spending? Is it taking care of those less fortunate that are, for many good reasons, can not afford to live a minimum standard on their own? Is it subsidizing important programs like education which is the best recognized but certainly not the most important. Is it overseeing corporate greed which put us in our current situation? Is it helping people through natural disasters like Katrina or the latest oil spill, which is more likely corporate greed?
There are those who will disagree, but I believe the only real “entitlement” is Social Security. We pay for it so aren’t we entitled to it. It is no secret that we need to increase social security tax. I believe the best way to do that is to increase the maximum, not the rate. Here again it would be getting a boost from those who could afford it. Maybe those high income people would prefer to reduce their benefits as they are better able to provide for retirement? Same effect.
One thing seems for certain. The sooner we react the less drastic the increase will have to be for both income and social security taxes.