Here We Go Again

Hundreds, if not thousands, of advocates for state-funded social service programs will be descending on the state capitol today. Lawmakers will be at the capitol for a special session to deal with the state budget mess and other issues. The advocates will be there to greet them with a major rally to demand an income tax hike to avoid massive cuts to social service programs. Social service agencies say they expect up to 5,000 people dressed in black to take part in the rally. It's an interesting choice to bring that many people dressed in black to a protest rally on a sunny day with temps in the mid-90s and the heat index expected to hit 101 to 106.

As I've mentioned on the blog before, so far lawmakers have approved a budget that would cut the budgets for social service programs by 50 percent or more. Gov. Pat Quinn reiterated yesterday that he's not willing to accept what he calls a "half-baked" budget. But he wouldn't offer a direct answer when asked if that means he'll veto the budget if lawmakers don't provide more revenue. He's still pushing for an income tax hike that was rejected last month. He says some lawmakers who voted against the tax hike in May are willing to vote for it now. He wouldn't offer any names and it seems doubtful he's convinced enough legislators to switch their votes to get the three-fifths majority he'd need to pass a tax hike now.

The governor has been making the rounds across the state the past month to push for his tax plan, warning about the deep cuts that would need to be made to social service agencies without more revenue. So it shouldn't be a surprise that he took another opportunity while in Springfield yesterday to call on lawmakers to approve a tax hike. The thing is, he did it at a ceremony to honor Illinois students who competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. It seems like an odd choice of events to push for a tax hike, especially since the crowd consisted entirely of the kids, their parents and the media. He even staged an impromptu spelling bee as he handed each kid their certificate, asking some of them to spell words like whistleblower, gridlock, mudslinging and legislature. Not exactly subtle, but certainly entertaining.