Raise income tax to support schools

In Illinois we have very little pork in our state budget. But we have to work on the logic of taxing the poorest in Illinois to pay for our services.

In Illinois if you earn only $1,000, then the $30 that you pay to the government is a lot. If you make a million dollars then the 3 percent you pay to Illinois still leaves you with $970,000 - plenty - and most who make so much don't pay that.

The service sector in our state is not taxed at all. Yet the majority of the people in Illinois are working from the short end of the stick, which means that not only are we taxing the people who can least afford it, but Illinois is missing millions of dollars from the growth at the long end.

For many years now, the State of Illinois has underfunded public education and human services that provide for a fair chance at opportunities that a good education provides and a fundamental safety net for some of the most vulnerable people in our state. These services make good sense for all of us - and should be paid for in socially responsible ways.

The lease of state assets and the expansion of gambling in Illinois are not logical solutions. It's like trying to drill our way out of the oil crisis: too little too late. The responsible source of funding for education and human services is an income tax increase, and I urge lawmakers to stop using this issue as a political football. Rather, our leaders should begin telling the whole truth - that a modest income tax increase coupled with real property tax relief and tax credits for low-income families is sound public policy.

The one thing that can improve the economic fortunes of everyone in our society, the one thing that would lower crime, lower poverty, and pump up the economy of the entire state is the education system. Underfunding education is like saying to our fellow citizens that we want the economy to be depressed; we want the crime rate to climb and property values to fall; we want more abortions and more babies born to babies; we want to pay more for health care for the people who haven't got an education.

We should be paying more into the education system, not cutting it.

While seniors and other citizens and businesses struggle to pay increasing property taxes on fixed incomes or shrinking profits, Illinois could be spreading the burden to include all income earners - in essence taxing our wealth, instead of our poverty. Of late, too many of our leaders have been telling half truths to get re-elected, without doing the work of the people - and following through on real, working solutions.

I urge all lawmakers and candidates for the Illinois General Assembly to tell the whole truth about fiscal reform during the coming election cycle and once elected, work toward passage of SB 2288.

Jennifer Shroder

Elgin