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The
Committee for Legislative Action (CLA) was established in 1995 with the
primary purpose of bringing sunlight to attempts to raise Fees and Taxes in
Illinois. This is done by
postings on CLA's website, which is mature, comprehensive and visited by
thousands, along with sending e-mail notices and, at times, through postal
mailings.
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are interested in the actions of Illinois government.
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be an Illinois registered voter.
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The Governor and Leaders of both
the Illinois House and Senate are calling for an income tax
increase, as sales tax increase, a gas tax increase, and a
cigarette tax increase, as well as creating a new tax on services.
People have expresses concern that elected
officials are not taking their opinion into consideration when making
decisions on legislation. Please weigh in on the proposed tax
increase and let your opinion be known.
Survey results are updated regularly. An email notice
will be sent to those who submitted the survey to tell them the
results are posted.
CLA will continue to
frequently post news stories, from around Illinois, regarding the
tax increase proposals.
Tax Survey Results:
Following are results from responses to
the Committee for Legislative Action's Tax Survey. Please note, these statistics are
not from a scientific poll, but come from voluntary responses. Each
person’s reply is only counted one time, regardless of how many times
they may submit to the Survey. Updates are posted frequently. Please
encourage others to participate.
Results updated
2/8/2010
Cigarette Tax Increase
# in favor
% in favor
# opposed
% opposed
4076
50%
4077
50%
Gas Tax Increase
# in favor
% in favor
# opposed
% opposed
753
9%
7321
91%
Income Tax Increase
# in favor
% in favor
# opposed
% opposed
1819
21%
6696
79%
Sales Tax Increase
# in favor
% in favor
# opposed
% opposed
1035
13%
7058
87%
A New Tax
on Services
# in favor
% in favor
# opposed
% opposed
617
8%
7509
92%
Service Tax in
Illinois
The Illinois State Senate
Democratic majority passed a bill that created, for the first time, a tax on
services. The Legislature has reconvened for the Spring Session. The House did
not act on the bill in the fall, but it will most likely be considered this
session.
The new tax on services would be on cable TV, dry cleaning and internet service,
to name a few.
To print and sign the
petition against the new service tax, click below.
Blagojevich lawyers
return to court with complaint list
Chicago Sun-Times
By: Natasha Korecki
January 27, 2010
Federal prosecutors
expect a grand jury to return a new indictment
against former Gov. Rod
Blagojevich and his brother next week,
they said in court today.
Prosecutors are expected to reindict the governor and Rob Blagojevich to help
avoid problems with a disputed law that’s being weighed this session by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar said that would likely happen by the end of
next week.
That likely means that both the ex-governor and his brother will soon make an
appearance again in federal court to formally enter a plea to the new
indictment.
The high court is looking at three cases dealing with the honest services
statute — something the Blagojevich brothers are now accused of violating.
The new indictment isn’t expected to break new ground.
“It is anticipated that any new charges would be based on the underlying conduct
that currently encompasses the pending charges,” prosecutors wrote in a December
filing.
Defense lawyers have said they would seek a delay in the trial if the high court
ends up throwing out the honest services statute, but U.S. District Judge James
Zagel has said he was unlikely to give much of an extension.
ACLU asks to block
hiked lobbying fees collection
Daily Herald
By: Associated Press
December 12, 2009
The
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois asked a federal court
Friday to block the state from collecting
sharply increased annual fees for registering as a lobbyist.
Under
legislation due to take effect Jan. 1, the annual fee that most
lobbyists must pay the secretary of state's office when they
register, as required by law, jumps from $350 to $1,000.
The ACLU said
in a lawsuit filed Friday against Illinois Secretary of State Jesse
White that the increase represents an unconstitutional tax on speech.
The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall to block the
state from collecting the additional amount from nonprofit
organizations.
"Nonprofit
organizations should not be forced to pay a tax in order to express
their views to the General Assembly when they are meeting in
Springfield or engaged in legislative activities elsewhere," said
Adam Schwarz, senior staff counsel with the ACLU of Illinois.
David Druker,
a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, declined to comment.
The increased fee was approved by the Legislature and the secretary
of state was merely designated to collect it.
Schwarz said
the ACLU considers any amount above the cost of administering the act
requiring lobbyists to register to be an unconstitutional tax on
speech.
He said
besides Illinois, no state has a registration fee higher than $365.
He said 42 states have a fee of $150 or lower. Registering under the
federal lobbying law is free.
While the ACLU
lawsuit asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional, it seeks
to block the state from collecting the additional money from
nonprofit organizations. But the lawsuit says nothing about the
additional money that for-profit companies would pay under the new
measure.
The ACLU also
said that the Legislature acted unfairly when it made an exception
for religious organizations and the news media and that those groups
should pay the same fees as all others.
U.S. may reindict
Blagojevich in statute end run
ChicagoBreakingNews.com
By: Jeff Coen
December 7, 2009
Federal prosecutors are
promising to bring a new indictment against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to avoid
issues connected to an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court on the scope of the
federal "honest services" statute under which Blagojevich has been charged.
That would prevent the need to delay Blagojevich's June trial date, they said.
In a filing today, prosecutors said they would handle the honest services
question in the new filing against the former governor. The high court is
expected to hear arguments tomorrow related to the limits of the federal
statute.
Honest services fraud
criminalizes schemes that deprive the public or the government of the right to
have public officials perform their duties honestly.
The honest services statute makes up a portion of a number of the charges
against Blagojevich, alleging that he violated his official duties while
illegally leveraging the powers of his office to benefit himself.
Among the allegations against the former governor is that he sought something
for himself - including perhaps a job - in exchange for his appointment of
someone to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
"At this time, it is anticipated that any new charges would be based on the
underlying conduct that currently encompasses the pending charges," today's
filing by Assistant U.S. Atty. Reid Schar states.
Blagojevich's defense this fall proposed moving the Blagojevich trial date so
that any impact from a Supreme Court decision on honest services could be
absorbed.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel denied that request but asked the government to
file a written response.
Schar wrote that, at most, some of the counts against Blagojevich would be
dropped if the high court severely limited the use of honest services.
A
new study shows that businesses in suburban Cook, especially along
the county line, continue to suffer under the burden of the increased
sales tax.
The study, from DePaul University's Chaddick
Institute for Metropolitan Development, shows that sales are down
across the Chicago region in the tough economy, but most of all in
suburban Cook County.
State Senator Dan
Rutherford was recently featured on
Comcast's "Newsmakers" program;
the Senator discussed proposals that would increase the
Illinois Income Tax.
SPRINGFIELD -
Moviegoers at places like Kerasotes Naperville Showplace 16 and other
multiplexes across the suburbs don't get hit with the state's sales
tax when catching a flick, just one of the myriad services Illinois
chooses not to tax.
But a new
report issued Friday from state economic officials illustrates how
the service industry has increasingly become the economic engine of
Illinois and suggests there's perhaps more than $7 billion a year to
be had if it were taxed the same as other purchases.
SPRINGFIELD – A new study says taxing services such as
haircuts, plumbing repairs and storage facilities could generate more than $7
billion for Illinois’ depleted budget.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, which provides
revenue forecasts for the General Assembly, estimates that up to 100,000
businesses could be affected by adding such a tax, which are used in other
states, but are sparingly deployed in Illinois.
Senator Dan
Rutherford discussed proposed Service Tax
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The recession is
starving the government of tax revenue, just as the
president and Congress are piling a major expansion of
health care and other programs on the nation's plate and
struggling to find money to pay the tab.
The numbers could hardly be more stark:
Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the
biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression,
while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8
trillion.
Other figures in an Associated Press
analysis underscore the recession's impact: Individual
income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago.
Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent. Social Security
tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940,
and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third
time ever.
The last time the government's
revenues were this bleak, the year was 1932 in the midst of
the Depression. "Our tax system is already inadequate
to support the promises our government has made," said
Eugene Steuerle, a former Treasury Department official in
the Reagan administration who is now vice president of the
Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Below is contact information for your state
elected officials.
Blagojevich and his brother next week, 
The Southern Springfield Bureau
