Quinn’s three budget falsehoods
In January 2011 Illinois politicians pushed through a record income tax increase that raised the income -tax rate on individuals to 5 percent from 3 percent, and on corporations to 7 percent from 4.8 percent.
After passing the record tax hike, Gov. Quinn went on record saying:
“We have some temporary tax increases [falsehood No. 1] that are designed to pay our bills [falsehood No. 2], get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing and make sure that our state has a strong economy [falsehood No. 3].”
Quinn’s actions today confirm that the above statement was nothing more than a falsehood.
Falsehood No. 1: The tax hike was temporary
Under current law, the temporary income tax hike is required to sunset to 3.75 percent from 5 percent in 2015. That means all Illinois taxpayers are supposed to see income tax relief next year.
But Quinn announced today that he wants to increase tax rates again on all Illinois taxpayers. The governor wants to make permanent the temporary income tax hike of 2011 instead of allowing it to sunset.
“This comprehensive tax-reform plan would maintain current income tax rates allowing us to balance the budget, properly invest in education and provide every Illinois homeowner with a guaranteed $500 propertytax refund every year,” Quinn said.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Quinn never intended to let the tax hike sunset. His budgets each year since the tax hike are proof of that. Illinois’ General Revenue Fund spending increased every year since the tax hike, growing from roughly $32 billion in fiscal year 2011 to about $36 billion in fiscal year 2014.
Falsehood No. 2: The tax hike was designed to pay down Illinois’ unpaid bills
In 2011, Illinois had an $8.5 billion bill backlog.
When politicians passed the 2011 income tax hike, that meant an extra $31.6 billion would be transferred from taxpayers to government between 2011 (when the tax hike was implemented) and 2015 (when the tax hike will partially sunset).
But now in 2014, Illinois has a $7 billion bill backlog. The math just doesn’t add up.
Even though state government will have at its disposal what amounts to nearly an entire extra year’s operating budget, the amount of past-due bills dropped by only $1.5 billion since the tax hike.
Falsehood No. 3: The tax hike would make sure Illinois has a strong economy
The 2011 income tax hike has been a crushing blow to an already-stagnant post-Great Recession recovery in Illinois.
More than 1 million Illinoisans woke up today and either don’t have a job to go to or are underemployed.
Illinois’ January 2014 unemployment rate was 8.7 percent, tied for second highest in nation. And highest in the Midwest.
This is the legacy of the Quinn administration.
The governor believes the only way to get out of this dire situation is to continue taxing individuals and businesses at the tax-hike rate.
The truth is there are solutions to provide tax relief to Illinoisans that also provide a boost to the state’s business environment – politicians just need to be brave enough to pursue them.
The first step is keeping promises to taxpayers and letting the tax hike sunset as planned.
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