Tax hike no easy sell

Quinn request for tax hike hits brick wall in state House
By Kevin McDermott and Kari Andren
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU       June 1, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Gov. Pat Quinn’s quest to fill a massive state budget deficit with an income tax hike appeared to all but collapse Sunday, as the Illinois House soundly defeated his tax proposal and [...]

Another Lincoln statue rally

Illinois rally supports tax hikes
By Kari Andren
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU     Apr. 23 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A week after anti-tax “tea parties” attracted
participants at the Illinois Capitol and around the nation, pro-tax-hike
advocates rallied Wednesday to support raising the state income tax to balance
the state budget.
Advocates sounded support for Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to raise the [...]

Reaction to Quinn’s budget address

Ill. lawmakers like Quinn’s tone, if not his tax plan
By Kevin McDermott and Kari Andren
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU   Mar. 19 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois leaders across the ideological spectrum are
lauding Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s first state budget speech as a refreshing
blast of candor after six years of fiscal gimmicks and stonewalling by his
predecessor, Rod Blagojevich.
But [...]

Budget address preview

Ill. Republicans to keep open mind on tax hike
By Kevin McDermott and Kari Andren
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU   Mar. 18 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is by no means assured of getting
the major state tax hike he will ask Illinois lawmakers for in a speech today.
But in the face of an unprecedented budget crisis, even [...]

A bit of a paradox

Illinois voters oppose tax hikes even as huge government shortfalls loom
By Kari Andren
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU  03/10/2009
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois voters say balancing the state budget should
be a priority, but they don’t want lawmakers to raise taxes to do it,
according to a poll released Monday.
More than half of the 644 registered voters surveyed said they would [...]