Springfield, Ill. – With the Illinois Legislature in the first week of a rare overtime summer session, State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) continues to work to address the major problems facing Illinois, including high property taxes; a dismal jobs climate; and a $6.1 billion budget deficit, the largest of any state.

After a tense final week of May, the ball is squarely in the Legislative Democrats’ court, with few signs of compromise emerging. Instead, Legislative Democrats continued full-steam ahead with partisan battle tactics: This week Democrats used a committee hearing in the House on Wednesday to throw barbs at Gov. Rauner’s education secretary, and a Thursday House floor session to force through a non-compromise bill on worker’s compensation, immediately dismissed by Gov. Rauner as “phony.”

Senator Syverson spent the week in his district, speaking with constituents, job creators, and taxpayers who elected him.

Sadly, gridlock in Springfield is expected to continue. Next Tuesday, the Senate will convene in a rare “Committee of the Whole” meeting of the full body to discuss freezing property taxes in Illinois. Late last week, Legislative Democrats killed a Republican compromise proposal to freeze property taxes on a party-line vote in committee.

The battle in Springfield has a consistent underlying theme: Democrats are refusing to compromise and are pushing a major tax hike as the only solution; Republicans insist that pro-jobs reforms and property tax relief have to come before new revenues.

Rauner announces cuts; Democrats propose giveaways

The difference between the two parties was in clear contrast this week, as Gov. Rauner and Senate Democrats pushed forward in two opposite directions in response to the looming $6 billion budget deficit.

Rauner announced a total of $400 million in spending cuts, in anticipation of a lack of agreement by the start of the next fiscal year on July 1. The cuts include:

Freezing all vehicle purchases for the state police
Grounding the state’s airplane passenger service
Closing five state museums to visitors
Suspending the State Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (SLIHEAP)
Identifying one or two juvenile correctional facilities to close
No awarding of grants for the Department of Natural Resource’s Open Space Land Acquisition Development Program in FY 2016
Immediate suspension of all future incentive offers to businesses, including Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits.

While Gov. Rauner began the process of anticipating an austere budget, due either to the absence of a compromise budget on July 1 or the Democrats’ passage last week of a spending plan that’s $4 billion out of balance, Senate Democrats went in the opposite direction with a significant spending proposal that would put the state’s balance sheet in even larger deficit.

Their proposal includes:

·         Increasing in the state’s minimum wage, to $11 per hour in four years

·         Free tuition and fees at Illinois community colleges

·         State-mandated employer-paid sick time

·         A state tax credit for tuition and higher education

                                       

The Senate Democrats failed to provide a cost estimate for their proposals, or an analysis of how much further these proposals would put the state into deficit.

Illinois currently faces a $6.1 billion budget deficit, by far the biggest of any state. Democrats passed a “spending plan” last week with a nearly $4 billion deficit.

Democrats continue to reject reform

After recently voting down Governor Rauner’s proposal to freeze property taxes, Senate Democrats have scheduled a “hearing” on the property tax system in Illinois for Tuesday June 9.

“Unfortunately this is no different than the political show put on by Democrats last week,’ said Senator Syverson. “They’re not seriously committed to the problems of high property taxes. Looking at the speakers they have lined up so far, most are individuals and groups who support high property taxes. If this was serious, they would involve the Governor’s office in the process.”

 

Concerns over national economy spill into Illinois

Last month, a troubling report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed reason for major concern over the national recovery. The report showing a 0.7 percent decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), one of the most important economic indicators. The report continued to reflect “the weakest performance emerging from a recession in the post WWII period.” The report also pointed to “softness” in retail sales, and a six-month low in consumer sentiment.

Illinois’ economy is particularly susceptible to a weak national economy, with the worst credit rating of any state, a major budget deficit, and the loss of 300,000 manufacturing jobs since the turn of the century.

Illinois’ jobless rate is currently at 6.0 percent, one of the highest in the Midwest and well above each of our neighboring states.

The weakened state of the economy is further proof of why Republicans continue to push for pro-jobs reforms, and a change to the broken status quo that contributed to a stagnant Illinois economy.

Papers: Rauner/Republicans on the right track

Editorial boards in Illinois have expressed concern for a wide variety of troubles facing Illinois, Chicago, and communities throughout the state. As the debate unfolds in Springfield, many have continued to call for a change from the status quo.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune editorialized: “Their party [the Democrats] lost the governorship because the people of Illinois were fed up with the status quo. That hasn’t changed. The people want to fix how this sorry state does business.”

On Wednesday, an editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times said that “Rauner came into office vowing to “shake up” Springfield, which is why we endorsed him, and this is what a shake-up looks like. He is right to demand basic pro-business reforms before he will even talk about raising taxes to fill a budget hole of more than $3 billion. No sense putting good money after bad.”

Illinois farmers wrap up corn planting

The 2015 Illinois corn crop is now officially 100% planted according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The total amount of corn plants that have emerged is now at 94%, compared to 87% at the same time last year, and a five-year average of 88%. 

Farmers are slightly ahead with soybeans compared to past years, 82% percent of their soybean crops are planted, compared to the 5-year average of 90 percent. So far, 62% of the soybeans have emerged.

The USDA rates most of the state’s crops as good, with 61% of corn and 64% of corn receiving the good mark, 18% and 13% rated excellent, and only 1% of either crop rated as very poor.