Swimming in debt, Ill. considers massive tax boost
AP
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Christopher Wills, Associated Press – Tue Jan 11
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Crippled by a massive deficit, Illinois has seen its bills pile up and its bond ratings fall. Now the state's Democratic leaders are making a desperate effort, and fighting the clock, to fill the budget hole with an equally massive tax increase.
They want to boost the personal income tax rate temporarily by up to 75 percent, pushing the current rate of 3 percent as high as 5.25 percent.
In sheer percentage terms, the Illinois proposal could be the biggest tax increase on the long list of increases states have passed as they grappled with recent economic woes.
"I wouldn't use end-of-days rhetoric, but it is definitely higher than we normally see," said Kail Padgitt, an economist for the Washington-based Tax Foundation.
The move is as difficult as it is bold. The window for action may be less than 24 hours, before Democrats lose some lame-duck lawmakers and a slice of their majority when a new General Assembly takes over on Wednesday.
"There's only one day left," House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said Monday night. Tuesday "is do-or-die."
Republicans reject the concept completely. Rank-and-file Democrats are pushing back by proposing strict new limits on government spending or a slightly smaller increase, perhaps 66 percent instead of 75 percent.
Illinois faces starkly different outcomes worthy of its extreme situation, where a deficit of $15 billion has built up over the years as officials have repeatedly avoided serious action. If the increase passes, Illinois could vault out of its budget hole immediately — at least until the four-year increase ends — while making the state a much more expensive place to live and work. Or Illinois could lose the only viable solution leaders have come up with, leaving nothing on the table that could fill a deficit that amounts to half the money in the state's key budget fund.