When lawmakers in Springfield begin crafting a state budget for next year they'll have $2 billion less to work with than they had last year. That decrease stems from a drop in state's income tax rate, but a new survey says Illinoisans would be up for new revenue, if it meant fewer cuts.
While running for governor, Republican Bruce Rauner said he'd be open to new revenue sources, like expanding service taxes and taxing retirement income. But since being elected, Rauner has tweaked that message:
"We're open to tax reform and tax overhaul. The critical thing is that first we get structural change. Because if all we do is talk about revenue or talk about spending levels without talking about structure, we'll be right back in the soup in future years."
That "structural change" he's talking about is a combination of cuts to state government, and pro-business initiatives like changes to workers compensation.
But Charles Leonard with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University says voters just aren't buying the idea that reducing spending alone will put the state back on track. He says voters have been...
"Observing cuts and threatened cuts in programs that they like..."
And he says they're warming up to increasing revenues.
