Lawmakers’ inaction was beneficial

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its abbreviated one-day session on Tuesday, Nov. 29, with little to show for it.

Left undone by legislators was how to deal with the unfunded pension problem which affects the pocketbooks of Illinois taxpayers. Reported by the Daily Herald on the following day was how Illinois lawmakers left Springfield without reaching an agreement on giving tax-break packages to Sears Holdings Corp. and CME Group Inc. aimed at keeping these two major employers from leaving the state.

In actuality this was a positive move, as small businesses, which are the real job creators, are not given such consideration and must fight for their own survival in Illinois’ hostile business climate.

Kudos to the Daily Herald for its extensive coverage of both the failure of the Sears deal and for printing a full account of how legislators in the House voted on Senate Bill 397 (a “tax relief package”) when voted down because it failed to pass muster with House Republicans.

The failed Senate proposal was billed by Democrats as a benefit to the working poor in Illinois. Two provisions in the bill, however, point in the opposite direction, as were stated in a news release by Kristina Rasmussen of the Illinois Policy Institute.

1) “The personal exemption expansion offers tax savings of a paltry $2.50 per taxpayer, but remember, the income tax hike cost the average family $1,500. So in exchange for taxing away the equivalent of three months of grocery money, some would now give families tax relief that amounts to the cost of chips and a sandwich.

2) Expanding the tax credit often discourages people eligible for the tax credit from earning more money and advancing their careers.”

Illinois would be better off using this money to lower the personal income tax rate or increase the exemption for all taxpayers, rather than expanding the deeply flawed earned income tax credit.

Nancy J. Thorner

Lake Bluff