Wednesday the Illinois Legislature approved an increase of nearly 66 percent in the state’s income tax to tackle a budget deficit of as much as $15 billion. The measure squeaked by, with a single vote margin in the Senate. All of the yes votes came from the Democrats who have majorities in both House and Senate.
It remains to be seen if raising the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent and boosting corporate taxes to 7 percent from 4.8 percent will produce the income needed to balance the budget and pay off the $8 billion the state has in unpaid bills to social service agencies, doctors, dentists and other providers .
What is certain, however, is that bringing in more revenue will narrow the gap between spending and revenue.
Republicans explained their “no” votes by saying Illinois should first cut spending before even talking about a tax increase.
The argument has a familiar ring. Kansas Republicans beat the same drum. So do those in Congress.
The reasonable response to this rhetoric is to ask for a detailed list of expenses to cut. If such a list won’t be provided, the argument is revealed as phony. And if the list depends on spending cuts in the future rather than in current programs, it is equally worthless.
In Kansas as in Washington and the other states with deficits looming the best way to reduce deficits and move toward balanced budgets is a carefully crafted combination of revenue increases and spending reductions.
Such a mix is most likely to become law if it is the product of bipartisan compromises.
Democrats should agree that spending cuts are needed; Republicans should agree that more revenue must be raised if the states and the federal government are to have the resources needed to provide essential services to the public.
The public’s role is to reject all no-compromise ideologies and demand that their governments — local, state and national — adopt pragmatic philosophies that make getting the right things done in the best possible way their operating principle.
(And since you asked, the right things include: a world-leading education system; first class highways, airports and other infrastructure; good health care for all; humane immigration laws that also meet the nation’s labor needs; a criminal justice system that tackles the causes of crime; compassionate care for those unable to care for themselves; narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor; keeping the nation safe from its enemies, at home and abroad; reduction of the national debt and balanced budgets at all levels of government. These are among the purposes of government for which the governed should be willing to pay.)
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
