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| Senate Passes 67% Income Tax Increase; Uncertain Future in House |
We're down to the wire now. Late Saturday night, while the Illinois House continued to work on the rest of a "bare-bones" state budget, the Illinois Senate passed a huge income tax hike and a massive expansion of gambling.
The tax hike includes the following provisions to raise $5.2 billion: An increase in the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent, a 0.2 percent increase in the corporate income tax, and the inclusion of 39 services, including taxi rides, dry cleaning, carpet cleaning, Internet service, dating services and health club memberships.
The plan would give $700 million in property tax relief. It barely passed Senate with a final tally of 31-27, with Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) voting present. It needed 30 votes to pass.
The House will consider this tax hike later Sunday. The House will also have to deal with the Senate-passed plan to allow four casinos, which is expected to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. The sites are in Chicago, Park City (near Waukegan), Rockford and Danville.
The back-up plan seems to be falling into place. Shortly before midnight, the Senate gave final approval to most of a "bare-bones" budget sent over by the House. It would keep government going, and allow the state to pull in federal stimulus dollars, but would also require what's expected to be devastating cuts in programs and massive layoffs in state police, schools, and other government agencies. The House started to pass additions to that "bare bones" budget, but decided to wait until later today to continue voting.
Lawmakers are facing a midnight deadline Sunday, because starting June 1, they'll need a super-majority of votes to pass a budget.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 05 30 09 by Newsroom |
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