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In campaign ads airing across the state, Hynes claims Quinn would
hit struggling families with a major tax increase and promises his
own tax plan would fix the state budget while affecting only wealthy
people.
Quinn argues he has a long record of trying to make Illinois' tax
system more fair and wants to cut taxes for most families. What's
more, he accuses Hynes of opposing more progressive taxes before he
supported them.
A close look suggests that both candidates are glossing over some
awkward facts.
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When Quinn proposed his income tax increase in March, the state's
finances were in shambles. The deficit eventually topped $11
billion. Quinn said the budget couldn't be fixed without extra
revenue, so he proposed increasing the personal income tax rate to
4.5 percent from the current 3 percent.
Quinn tried to shield working-class families and the poor from
his increase by proposing to triple the personal exemption, an
amount of income that's exempt from taxes.
Under Quinn's original plan, a family of four making more than
$60,900 would have seen their taxes rise, but families making less
would have paid lower taxes. Single people, married couples with no
children and a single parent with only one child would have ended up
paying higher taxes in most cases.
Quinn boasts in his first TV commercial of the campaign that he
proposed "tax cuts" and "tax relief."
That's true -- but he doesn't mention that the tax relief
ultimately didn't survive negotiations with lawmakers. Quinn had to
compromise and was willing to settle for less.
The generous personal exemptions Quinn wanted weren't in a bill
overwhelming rejected by the Illinois House that would have
temporarily raised the income tax rate to 4.5 percent. Without those
exemptions, the higher rate would have meant bigger tax bills for
most people.
Quinn was even willing to support a Senate bill that had a
bigger, permanent tax increase but did offer some relief through
higher tax credits for low-income workers and a slightly higher
personal exemption.
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Hynes has made tax fairness the first major issue of the primary
race. He's running ads accusing Quinn of trying to raise taxes
across the board.
"Pat Quinn is trying to fool you. The fact is, Quinn would raise
taxes on the middle class by 50 percent," a narrator intones in a
Hynes TV ad.
That ignores the fact that Quinn tried to reduce the tax burden
on many families by increasing the personal exemption. Hynes also
doesn't tell people that the state constitution requires a flat tax,
so Quinn couldn't have proposed different tax rates for different
income levels without going through a yearslong amendment process.
Hynes policy director Joe Enright said increasing the personal
exemption wouldn't have provided effective tax relief. The way to do
that, he said, is to propose a constitutional amendment, as Hynes is
doing.
Hynes wants a full progressive tax that he trumpets would only
increase income taxes for people making more than $200,000. It would
work much like a ladder -- the higher your income, the higher your
tax rate.
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People making less than $200,000 would pay the current 3 percent
personal income tax rate. That rate would climb to 3.5 percent for
income between $200,000 and $300,000, then 5.5 percent on income up
to $500,000, 7 percent over $500,000 and 7.5 percent over $1
million.
So a person making $350,000 would be taxed on the first $200,000
at 3 percent, the next $100,000 at 3.5 percent and the final $50,000
at 5.5 percent, Enright said.
In his ads, Hynes doesn't explain how he'd keep a broke state
government running for the next year while he tries to amend the
constitution. He simply makes a vague mention of cutting spending.
Quinn's TV ad portrays Hynes as a Johnny-come-lately to
progressive taxes.
"Before Hynes started running for governor, he opposed Quinn's
fight to make Illinois taxes more fair," a narrator says.
Quinn's campaign points to a 2003 newspaper story that said Hynes
opposed a state constitutional amendment to raise taxes on the rich
that Quinn, then lieutenant governor, backed. Hynes was running for
the U.S. Senate then and was quoted as saying he "wouldn't advocate
a tax increase at the state level."
The Hynes camp says Quinn is distorting that comment. Just
because Hynes didn't advocate a tax increase, it doesn't mean he
opposed progressive taxes, they say.
A progressive income tax is easy to talk about in a TV ad, but
not easy to pull off.
It would require a constitutional amendment. That means lawmakers
first have to vote to put it on the ballot and then voters have to
approve it -- two big hurdles to success that Hynes doesn't mention
in his TV ads.
Lawmakers last year rejected a proposed constitutional amendment
that would have allowed a graduated income tax in Illinois. The idea
also failed in 2003.
"Anyone can suggest a plan, but what are the chances of getting
it enacted?" asked Tom Johnson, president of the Taxpayers'
Federation of Illinois.
___
On the Net:
Hynes campaign:
www.danhynes.com
Quinn campaign:
www.quinnforillinois.com
[Associated Press;
DEANNA BELLANDI]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed. |
