Quinn urges Ill. lawmakers to approve smaller tax hike devoted to education

Quinn seeks income tax hike for schools

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Calling himself a realist, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday scaled back his proposal to raise income taxes, shifting to a call for an increase of just one percentage point to be used solely for preventing deep cuts to education.

The rest of Illinois’ record-breaking $13 billion budget deficit should be addressed mostly by borrowing money and letting more unpaid bills pile up, Quinn said in a brief speech to legislators.

Letting more bills pile up could be disastrous for those who need help with child care, job training, services to the elderly, drug counseling and more. The local organizations the state hires to provide those services, which already are struggling to survive, could go under if they don’t get paid.

The Democratic governor did little to lay out the potential impact of his proposed budget or to explain why he was retreating from his past proposals for a larger income tax increase. Quinn did, however, refer to the difficulty of raising taxes in an election year.

“I’m still an optimist, but I’m also a realist,” Quinn said.

Quinn’s budget proposal calls for cutting spending by more than $2 billion, with education taking a hit of $1.3 billion.

But he called it shortsighted to cut education spending and challenged legislators to approve an income tax “surcharge” instead.

Quinn’s budget director, David Vaught, said later that the governor is proposing a permanent increase and that it would generate about $2.8 billion a year. The state’s personal income tax rate is now 3 percent, so Quinn’s proposal would increase the rate by one-third.

Quinn rejected calls for across-the-board budget cuts. His opponent in the fall election, Republican Sen. Bill Brady, favors cutting all of state government by about 10 percent.

“That approach is both heartless and naive. Taking a chain saw to our state budget … is just plain wrong,” Quinn said.

Lawmakers last year rejected Quinn’s proposal to raise income taxes by 50 percent. Now, in an election year, lawmakers aren’t any more eager to consider the idea.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, 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.

Lawmakers could pass a temporary budget and postpone any politically touchy decisions until after the November election. At that point, legislators will be safe from voter backlash and Quinn will either have won a full term or have been beaten by Brady, who opposes any increase.

Although Quinn called for a tax increase, he did not include it in the formal budget he’s submitting to the Legislature. Instead, his budget addresses the deficit by cutting expenses by $2 billion, borrowing $4.7 billion to pay old bills and letting about $6 billion in new bills pile up for another year.

State employees would have to take unpaid days off, saving $200 million. Prescription drug benefits for the elderly would be cut in half, saving $70 million. The state would share less tax money with local governments, saving about $300 million.

Quinn proposed a $2,500 tax credit for each new job created by small businesses. He said it would create 20,000 jobs.