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CTBA's 8th Annual
Fiscal Symposium:
How the Economic
Downturn is
Affecting
the State's Fiscal
Condition |
Illinois Senate President John
Cullerton opened CTBA’s 8th
Annual Fiscal Symposium by
saying that the budget is tight
and the state agencies have
already been cut to the bare
bones. Cullerton said that the
state must pass a budget bill
and a capital bill and there is
a $3 billion gap. That gap must
be filled either through a
temporary or permanent tax
increase or other methods but
the money must be found to move
forward.
Ralph
Martire, CTBA’s Executive
Director, said, “Given the
recession and fiscal challenges
facing us today it is time for
Illinois Government to grow up
and level with the voters. We
can’t invest in tomorrow without
fixing our regressive tax system
today. Fixing the tax system is
the best way to fix the budget
and the best way to get the
economy moving.”
The
Symposium, moderated by Beyond
the Beltway’s Bruce DuMont,
heard from panelists Illinois
Representative William Davis,
30th District; Illinois
Representative David E. Miller,
29th District; Jesse Ruiz,
Chairman of the Illinois State
Board of Education; Daniel
Schwick, Assistant to the
President of Lutheran Social
Services of Illinois and Matthew
Gardner, Policy Analyst for the
Citizens for Tax Justice.
Panelists field questions from
moderator, Bruce Dumont, as well
as from the audience
Miller talked about the need for
taxes to be raised progressively
to safeguard education and other
necessary funding. Ruiz talked
about the fact that we need to
unhook education funding from
property taxes to create a more
equitable funding mechanism,
today’s system is hurting
education. Schwick emphasized
the fact there are many reasons
for people to be in need and
that one part of the problem,
for example, education, cannot
be fixed at the expense of other
human care needs i.e.
healthcare, housing, etc. and
that there needs to be
strengthening of the safety net
by public and private sources.
Gardner emphasized that Illinois
tax policy has the least
exemptions and credits for
families with low income and has
the most regressive tax policies
in the nation. Taxes need to be
raised, but not without
safeguards for low income
families.
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