 In the waning days of
the 96th General Assembly and the first days
of the 97th General Assembly, lawmakers in Springfield approved
measures and reforms that once had been considered politically
impossible.Illinois legislators approved an income tax increase
as well as workers' compensation and education reforms and took the
first steps toward reforming Illinois' massively underfunded pension
system.
But 2011 began with the tax increase.
Less than a day before the 97th General Assembly was sworn in,
the 96th General Assembly passed a 67 percent personal income tax
increase, from a flat rate of 3 percent to 5 percent -- the largest
tax hike in Illinois' history. The state's corporate income tax rate
also jumped, from 4.8 percent to 7 percent.
Suburban Republican state Rep, David Harris, R-Arlington Heights,
said the tax increase gave lawmakers a starting point on the budget,
and the Illinois House took advantage of it by basing the 2012
spending plan on revenue estimates.
"Whether we like it or not, the legislature passed a significant
tax increase in the lame-duck session," Harris said.
Democrats argue that the tax increase was needed to "stabilize"
Illinois' financial situation and put the state in position to
eliminate an $8 billion deficit.
"The argument that people have made in the past, 'Well, we just
need more money' -- no, we got more money and there's not enough,
and there's not ever going to be enough to run a government that's
been bloated," said state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion.
With that in mind, Bradley and others in the Illinois House
focused on cutting the next state budget. Instead of granting the
governor a lump sum to spend as it had in previous years, the
legislature allocated the funds to programs and line items.
Harris said lawmakers also paid some of the state's bills -- the
pension payment and health-care costs for state employees -- for the
first time "in many years."
"What we did with that new money is (make this year's) pension
payment, "said Harris. "And we made our spending less than it was in
previous years.
Mike Lawrence, who is the former director of the Paul Simon
Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said the
action at the beginning of 2011 brought in a revived era of
productivity.
"You have the same major players, but they're acting differently
because I think they realize that the people of Illinois are unhappy
about the state of finances," Lawrence said. "Those were all
substantial moves on the eve of this regular session, and in some
ways that flurry of action provided a flame for the current
session."
State Sen. David Koehler, D-Perkins, agreed.
"We've had more reform legislation, more critical issues in front
of the General Assembly, than I can remember in a long time,"
Koehler said. "Sometimes issues don't really manifest until the time
is right. That's not something you can necessarily predict, but you
just have to react when it does happen."
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Kent Redfield, political science professor at the University of
Illinois in Springfield, said the elections of 2010 certainly
sparked much of the action for lawmakers in 2011.
The action is "driven by wanting to solve problems and responding
to citizen demand, but it's also driven by the politics and seeing
the dissatisfaction of government that was expressed in the midterm
elections," Redfield said.
He added that education reforms that make it easier to fire
teachers and harder for teachers to strike, Medicaid reforms that
could trim billions of dollars from the cost of government
subsidized health care, and workers' compensation reform all have
ties to dissatisfied voters.
Whether that dissatisfaction will stick, however, Redfield said
he is holding out on until the next election cycle.
"You may not have a good sense of this until you see how things
shake out politically" in 2012, he said.
While the elections of 2012 certainly will be part of the 2011
legacy, so will unfinished business.
Illinois lawmakers could not or did not make changes to how state
employees pay for their retirement benefits.
Illinois' $130 billion unfunded pension liability is becoming an
ever-increasing weight on the state's finances. Leaders in the House
tried to push a reform package that would raise costs for state
employees and, hopefully, lessen costs for taxpayers. But it will be
the fall, or even next year, until lawmakers could act on that.
"We teach our children, don't put off until the last day to do
your homework or get that special project done. Start doing it right
away. Well, government should learn the same lesson," said state
Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT and MELISSA LEU]
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