Another surprise attack in Springfield.
The people of Illinois may have dodged a massive $1.5 billion tax increase, but that’s only because a proposal put together by insider House Democrats was so outrageous that Gov. J.B. Pritzker rejected it out of hand.
“As it is, it’s not going forward,” said Pritzker, referring to what he called a “whole bunch of things that have never been seen before.”
Looking for new revenues to support Chicago-area mass transit systems, House Democrats proposed the massive tax hike that included a 7 percent amusement tax that includes streaming services such as Netflix, a $5 ticket surcharge per ticket on large concerts and sports competitions, and a 4.95 percent tax on unrealized capital gains that was dubbed a “billionaire’s tax.”
Supportive legislators revealed it this week and planned to pass it in the brief veto session without anything approaching serious scrutiny. Thankfully, Pritzker re-directed the course of events.
He said his staff members were working with legislators to come up with a realistic alternative.
“The transit bill is not dead. I can tell you, there’s a whole lot of conversation and collaboration is still going on. And so the work is continuing,” he said.
So, as the governor pointed out, they may — or may not — take action at warp speed.
But the proposed tax package for the Chicago-area transit system is not the only issue for the public to consider.
Once again, the public was witness to the opposite of a thoughtful legislative process — surprise legislation drafted in secret and designed to catch the public by surprise.
The public has seen this before, and it’s no more palatable now than it has been in the past.
Whatever happened to legitimate legislative hearings to take testimony from those familiar with the issues who offer a section of ideas to consider and discuss?
Passing sound legislation is not easy or quick. It requires thoughtful deliberation.
Instead, the public too often sees legislators gather for truncated veto sessions that last a week or two, where a bill hatched in secret is introduced and then passed.
Pritzker blocked the first proposal because he couldn’t abide its contents. But his response, unfortunately, is to pursue more secret deliberations with an eye on coming up with a plan to pass it ASAP.
From a purely tactical standpoint, it’s a clever ruse. After all, it’s hard to marshal any kind of thoughtful alternative, let alone organized opposition, when a bill is introduced one day and passed the next.
Super-minority Republicans, of course, despise this long-standing Democratic tactic because it shuts GOP House and Senate members completely out of the process. After all, they were elected, too.
But this ought not be a partisan issue because Democrats not party to the insider maneuver also are on the outs, left with a take-it-or-leave-it proposal and ordered by party leaders to take it.
Let’s also not forget about the people of Illinois. They’re not made aware of what’s up until it is, by design, a fait accompli.
Illinois, a once-great state that still possesses tremendous resources, deserves better.
