Comment: But some of the unemployed have to get off their butts and take the good manufacturing jobs already going unfilled, as we wrote here.
Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to voice optimism about “recent bipartisan agreement” with Democratic leaders in his State of the State address on Wednesday. Comment: Huge mistake by Rauner if this story is accurate.
A plan to increase the income tax was adjusted upward slightly and a tax on services such as car repair and laundry surfaced Tuesday even as other parts of a monstrous Illinois Senate plan to end the nation’s longest budget standoff ran into stiff opposition and skepticism grew about its success in a floor vote.
Comment: I presume this will impact Illinois outlets like WTTW and Illinois Public Radio, at least indirectly, though I don’t know the details of their reliance on the national affiliates that receive federal funding.
Comment: This is degrading into a circus.
By: Mark Glennon* The introductory language in the bill is so perfect. The tax is imposed “for the privilege of doing business in the State.” And the rationale for how much tax is paid is pure genius: The more you pay employees in Illinois, the higher your tax. That’s right, it’s based on how big your Illinois payroll is. Whether you have any money, any revenue or any profit doesn’t matter. It’s in SB-9, a bill introduced today in the Illinois Senate. It would apply to pretty much anybody doing business in the state — any
Comment: Respectfully disagree with Illinois Policy Inst. on this one, provided Rauner runs the program honestly. A far better solution would be a pact among states to refrain from these incentive programs, though that’s unlikely.
Like Illinois, Philadelphia also has an issue with the smuggling of high-tax items like cigarettes from other states. Like Illinois, Pennsylvania already imposes a sales tax on groceries.
Cash-strapped Chicago State University spent about $200,000 over the past two years to lobby state lawmakers, including contracts with consultants closely tied to legislative leaders whose inability to pass a state budget has contributed to the school’s financial crisis.
Specifically, fiscal pain. There are at least three major reasons why. Two of them are driven by that newly unified Republican front in Washington; the third is their own fault. Comment: So is the Washington Post, but they got this one right.
Toni Preckwinkle campaigned for county board president as a tax slasher but later pushed new and increased levies. Debate rages over whether she has imposed enough austerity on county government to justify a course correction on taxes. Comment: A/K/A to our readers here as Taxwinkle or Peckerwanker.
Responding to a Tribune investigation that found drugstores frequently failed to warn customers about potentially dangerous drug interactions, Rauner is unveiling a major plan designed to improve public safety at pharmacies throughout the state. The administration’s proposal would require pharmacists to counsel patients about risky drug combinations and other significant issues when buying a medication for the first time or when a prescription changes.
Pink yarn is running low at craft stores after thousands of women created “pussyhats” for the weekend Women’s March.
“We are very happy that the Senate is negotiating this,” said Benjamin Brockschmidt, executive director of the Infrastructure Council and vice president of policy for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. “There is no doubt that we need a budget. … But the package is not without its shortcomings.”
Just thought we needed some nice news for a change.
A letter sent by the Rauner administration to GOP Congressional leaders states Illinois leaders have significant concerns about the state’s ability to run a sustainable Medicaid program under proposed changes.
Allowing guns but banning gun ranges is not a legal way to circumvent the Second Amendment.
Parents, teachers and disability rights advocates say new oversight protocols keep kids from getting services they need, while BGA analysis raises questions about Chicago Public Schools’ claims that minority students are over-identified for special ed.
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