QUOTE OF THE DAY
WUIS: Quinn: Lawmakers “Didn’t Get The Job Done” On Budget
Gov. Pat Quinn says the budget that lawmakers approved “didn’t get the job done.”
The Chicago Democrat wanted to extend the state’s income tax increase to avoid budget cuts, including layoffs. However, lawmakers sent him a spending plan on Friday that Democrats acknowledge puts off tough decisions about whether to slash spending or find new sources of revenue.
That includes possibly making Illinois’ temporary tax increase permanent.
The vote on the $35.7 billion budget comes as the Legislature faces a Saturday deadline to adjourn.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel’s 911 phone fee hike sent to governor
Lawmakers today sent Gov. Pat Quinn a measure pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that would allow the city to raise 911 fees that are tacked on to monthly phone bills.
Under the measure, the City Council would have the ability to raise 911 fees by as much as $1.40, which would bring the charge on landline and cell phone bills to $3.90 a month.
Supporters say money raised would be used to fund the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. How much money the fee hike would bring in depends on whether aldermen vote to increase the fee and to what level.
Huffington Post: Illinois Shelving $100M Gift To Obama Library
A plan to offer $100 million in tax dollars to lure Barack Obama’s presidential library to Illinois is on the shelf, as lawmakers wrapped up their spring session without advancing the idea.
Democrats in the president’s home state pushed the proposal to compete against rival bids from Hawaii and New York. But it faced opposition from Republicans wary of an expensive and precedent-setting gift — with no immediately identified funding source — for a mostly private endeavor when the state faces serious financial difficulties.
Not all Democrats were on board either. Both the Democratic-controlled House and Senate adjourned without calling for any final votes on the measure.
Chicago Sun Times: Budget, session don’t jibe with Quinn’s re-election platform
Gov. Pat Quinn laid out an ambitious platform for his 2014 re-election bid earlier this year, calling for a minimum-wage increase, an extension of the 2011 temporary income tax hike and $500 property-tax rebates for homeowners.
Admittedly, the governor did walk away from the spring session with a $1.1 billion road-and-bridge construction plan that passed in the wee hours Saturday and that will provide plenty of opportunities for summer ribbon cuttings. He also lobbied successfully for legislation to combat state grant fraud and to give pregnant workers more rights in the workplace.
But one by one, some of his most-prized initiatives fell by the legislative roadside, plowed down by seemingly complacent Democratic supermajorities that have controlled the House and Senate since last year but couldn’t deliver for Quinn when it may have mattered most.
Chicago Tribune: New Illinois budget doesn’t help next governor
Illinois lawmakers did neither candidate for governor any favors with the kick-the-can-down-the-road budget they passed before wrapping up Saturday.
Whether it’s Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn or Republican challenger Bruce Rauner who comes out on top this fall, Illinois’ next governor now faces the prospect of figuring out how to deal with a projected budget hole of $4.8 billion and a pile of unpaid, overdue bills that could be even larger than that.
“Ooh,” said House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs. “That’s not going to be an easy job no matter who wins.”
Both political parties agree that state government’s finances need fixing, and taxpayers are waiting to see how — and whether — that ever happens.
Crain’s: Illinois ‘Amazon tax’ back from the dead
llinois is poised to re-impose sales taxes on some Internet purchases, seven months after the state’s so-called Amazon tax was struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Brick-and-mortar retailers hailed the move while online firms expressed dismay.
“It’s obviously extremely disappointing,” said Brian Littleton, president and CEO of Chicago-based ShareASale.com Inc., a provider of affiliate marketing network software. He said firms that started offering coupons again in Illinois since October’s ruling will again be forced to leave the state or shut down.
This time around, he said, it could affect Chicago’s Groupon Inc., which started offering coupons last fall. A Groupon official said in an email that “we are indeed looking closely at the implications of the law for our new Freebies business.”
Crain’s: Illinois economy is nearly as good as it gets, but where are the jobs?
The local economy continues to rebound from a lousy winter, two economic reports indicated today, but employment remains weak.
The Chicago Business Barometer, an index of local business activity, increased another 2.5 points to 65.5 in May after jumping 7.1 points in April. Anything over 50 indicates the economy is growing, and that’s the highest level the index has reached since October and nearly as high as it’s been for the past decade.
Similarly, the Federal Reserve Bank’s Midwest Economy Index, a weighted average of 129 state and regional indicators, moved into positive territory in April at, 0.12 from -0.04 in March. The Fed’s index shows how much the economy is performing above or below historical growth rates in five Midwest states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
