Illinois’ top Democrats agree to budget that cuts taxes, but with most reductions ending after election – Center Square

Gov. Pritzker said there will be tax relief in the form of the earned income tax credit, property tax and income tax rebates, and a freeze of the 1% grocery tax. “On groceries, a full year. On gas, again, six months up to Jan. 1, and then we’ll revisit and see where we are in regard to oil prices and the world market and how that affects our gas prices.”
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Pensions Paid First
2 years ago

The entire budget surplus should be put into the pensions. It’s this type of behavior that has caused the underfunding. Republicans want permanent tax cuts and democrats are pandering with these temporary cuts. Once again both parties proving that they are responsible for Illinois’ fiscal problems.

Oh well. Pander today, raise taxes tomorrow.

Riverbender
2 years ago

I gotta agree with you on that. The one problem though is that if the politicians did the right thing as you suggest, they simply would not be elected as Illinois voters tend to be mesmerized on a few cut glass trinkets thrown to them rather than the truth. It is Illinois and the voters…uh, well are Illinoisans.

Pensions Paid First
2 years ago
Reply to  Riverbender

I completely agree with you RB. Voters don’t value or reward fiscal discipline so they are getting exactly what they want and deserve with all of the pension underfunding. Of course, later they will complain about how taxes need to increase to cover the shortfall. Those same voters will blame the politicians but won’t recognize they are the root of the problem.

debtsor
2 years ago

Overlooked in all of this is that our IL legislature is extremely gerrymandered towards Democrat. Down to the street and subdivision. And that most Democrats are elected in the primary because they have only a token general election opposition candidate. Absent some massive, overwhelming movement of new voters, or the abandonment of the Democrat party by 15% of their voters, it’s structurally impossible for Republicans, or even fiscally responsible Democrats to get elected, and it’s impossible to win the legislature. So when we you say ‘voters don’t value or reward fiscal discipline’ you really mean a small subset of Democrat… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by debtsor
Pensions Paid First
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Electing Republicans won’t change a thing. Do you hear anyone from the GOP stating all extra money should be going to pay down the pension debt? Voters don’t vote for that regardless of party affiliation. You can continue whine all day about gerrymandering, but that only exists because voters allow that as well. The residents of Illinois are not victims but rather enablers.

Even on this site. I mention using any and all extra money to pay down the debt and nothing but down votes. More fake fiscal conservatives.

debtsor
2 years ago

“Do you hear anyone from the GOP stating all extra money should be going to pay down the pension debt?” Did you hear Progressives saying they were going to pass abortion bills allowing the killing of 9 month old babies in the womb? Did any progressive campaign on passing a bill like this in 2018? Of course not. But then they passed the bill. Did Scott Walker campaign on getting rid of collective bargaining for Teachers in WI in 2014? He did not but it passed. We don’t know what GOP would do if they were in control but it’s… Read more »

Pensions Paid First
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

What a great campaign slogan. “We don’t know what we will do but give us a chance and who knows what we will accomplish”. Too funny.

debtsor
2 years ago

The subheading to Trump winning 2016 campaign was ‘What Do You Have To Lose?”

Pensions Paid First
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Trump didn’t win Illinois. Good luck with that message.

debtsor
2 years ago

Did he really lose? I mean, given the corruption, the drop boxes, the ballot harvesting, the outright late night counting. Maybe we’ll never really know. He had the most votes of any Republican prez candidate in recent history. But just like JB, hundreds of thousands of voters that failed to show up for any previous election somehow materialized, out of this air, to vote straight Democrat in 2016, 2018 and 2020. The numbers just don’t add up anymore. I think the feds know it too. They’ve got Madigan by the _____ and they hope he spills the beans before he… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by debtsor
Platinum Goose
2 years ago

I spend about $500/mo on groceries so I’ll save $1.25 a week, will anyone even notice this. Will they get any political points for this. I can’t imagine anyone will see this difference in their pocketbook. Seems like a waste to me.

debtsor
2 years ago

Ask 100 random people on the street and maybe 5 will even be aware of the tax cuts. That’s one of the problem with the Democrats in Springfield operating in almost complete secrecy – few residents are aware of the level of left wing craziness down there, but likewise, few are aware of ‘tax cuts’ right before mid-terms either. Even my local news station yesterday had a 5 second clip that said “Democrats in Springfield are getting close to passing a budget…..now here is your weather forecast”. That was it. Even this morning on the news, the budget is still… Read more »

state_pension_millionaires
2 years ago

…sleaziest of the sleaze….rank consumption for Joe Six Pack…been that way in Chicago/ILL for decades, and we are supposed to say “thank you may I have another”….. ….there is no money in ORD or ILL (#1-2 in overall tax burden; #1-2 in political corruption; #51, behind Puerto Rico in fiscal condition; Chicago area metro housing appreciation #98/of 100 US metros over the past year—thats called “prima facie” ) , cause state/city has $0.5Trillion roughly in unfunded pension and medical benefits due to the public unions, as well as fabulous public sector compensation without a lot of productivity oversight (of course)… Read more »

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Gov. Pritzker is using the threat of budget cuts to get more tax hikes passed – Wirepoints joins Tom Miller of WJPF Carbondale

Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about the details of Gov. Pritzker’s proposed $52 billion budget, why the state is struggling now that federal covid dollars have run out, the controversy surrounding Tier 2 government pensions, why Illinois’ expensive education system fails to teach children to read, the outrageous demands of the Chicago Teachers Union, and more.

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