A look at the damage of Illinois' 3-year budget impasse

[TexasTowelie]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — More than 1 million Illinois residents are feeling the impact of the state's unprecedented budget impasse, a situation that's expected to worsen with the prospect of entering a third straight fiscal year without a spending plan.

State legislators adjourned this week without an agreement for the fiscal year that starts July 1, impacting students, small businesses, domestic violence victims and others.

Here's a look at some of fallout of the ongoing budget fight between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats controlling the Legislature:

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

Illinois closes out the current fiscal year nearly $6 billion in the red, a deficit that continues to grow. Spending mandated by court orders and state statute continues at levels set by the last budget lawmakers approved in 2014, when revenues were higher. A 2011 temporary income tax increase has since rolled back.

Read more: http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/wire/a-look-at-the-damage-of-illinois--year-budget/article_5c338555-f2aa-5dba-8424-fae19d0412fd.html

[murielm99]

1. I am going to a five county

Democratic dinner this evening. Our state treasurer should be there. Lisa Madigan, several Congress people and some candidates will be there as well. I will be listening closely.

We have had mixed legislatures and governors in the past. They have managed to work together, no matter what party was in power. They passed budgets. This is all Rauner the Ruiner. He thinks he can run the state like a business. It is running like a trump business right now: straight into bankruptcy.

[Snarkoleptic]

2. Ruiner could have stopped the bleeding, had he not allowed the temporary income tax hike to remain.

Today the credit rating was further screwn.
The state university system is taking on structural damage and may never fully recover.

It's time to amend the State Constitution to allow for a progressive income tax.
We also need a database where county taxing authorities can compare drivers license (address) records vs. properties where an owner-occupied tax exemption is claimed. (Rauner has abused this, personally)

Another revenue generating idea we need is a 'privilege tax' (detailed below), which could pull in $1.7 billion/year.
http://chicagoreporter.com/bill-targets-carried-interest-loophole-to-make-finance-titans-pay-fair-share/

In Illinois, identical bills sponsored by State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) and State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) would charge a “privilege tax” of 20 percent on partnerships engaged in investment management services until a federal law with an identical effect is enacted.

Based solely on public filings, Hedge Clippers estimates the bill would raise $473 million a year. The Illinois Department of Revenue estimates that the tax has the potential to raise $1.7 billion a year – but the department also argues that the tax would incentivize firms to find new ways to evade taxation or to “relocate taxable activity so it is beyond the reach of the state.”