So, what’s not to like about the sweeping federal tax package the Republicans are pushing through Congress? the bill fails on so many levels they can’t all be covered in one column. Ralph identifies two that stand out.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is warning that the Republican tax plan will hurt families in Illinois, and even tax them on taxes they’ve paid.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Fiscal policy groups in Illinois agree the state’s nearly two-year budget quagmire has damaged everything from schools to social service agencies to the state’s bond rating, but take very different views on how to fix the problem.
Ralph Martire, executive director of the
Illinois is far from the first state to find that its budget doesn’t quite balance - that it’s paying out more money in services than it’s taking in, or that pension or education payments are ballooning.
Two states in particular—Kansas and Minnesota—have taken definitive steps to address their budget shortfalls. One state cut taxes, the other raised them. Their approaches fall on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, and the result of their efforts is also drastically different.
As the Illinois budget stalemate drags on, what can we learn from the examples of Kansas and Minnesota?
By RALPH MARTIRE
Given both the size and cause of the state's fiscal shortcomings, at this point in time the greatest good policymakers can deliver for the public is to raise taxes.
Here's why.
First, there's the sheer magnitude of the problem. At the end of FY2015 — the
Editor’s note: As part of the Sounding the Alarm series, the State Journal-Register’s editorial board invited five statewide organizations to write a guest view answering the following question: Given the state’s financial situation, what agenda would you set for the governor and General Assembly? This is the third of those five op-eds.
By Dave Koehler
My sincere thanks to the Peoria Journal Star for the editorial series on the problems facing the state of Illinois. I appreciated the historical look at how we got here and how the lack of a budget has resulted in the crisis now before us. I find myself in agreement with what has been stated, as I will further explain:
The Chicago Housing Authority’s controversial proposal to limit the amount of time voucher holders can receive housing subsidies is expected to be rolled out later this year.
According to the CHA’s review of families who took part in the Family Self Sufficiency Program in 2013, 67 percent