Third Time’s a Charm? Legislature to Return to Vote on Tax Package

 After two failed attempts, the legislature will come back to the Statehouse next week to attempt a new vote on the CME and Sears tax package.  The latest plan breaks up the original proposal into individual bills instead of one giant “Christmas tree” of a bill.  Despite the separate parts, the votes are still up in the air.  Some members are insisting on raising the Earned Income Tax Credit to 15% instead of 10%.  Doing this could gain some votes but lose others.  The proposal still only helps a small number of business and some members may not be comfortable with that.  One possible scenario is that since the personal exemption is so broad-based it could be passed along partisan lines.  However, the tax portion is not a runaway winner so everything is still speculation on just how many votes are there. 

As you’ll remember from previous reports, the legislature was not successful in passing a tax package for CME and Sears during the fall veto session or during the special session held after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Much of the focus on this proposal has been in the House.  The House Revenue committee has been holding hearings and many discussions to attempt to come to an agreement.  However, the Senate passed their own tax package during the one day special session.  That proposal failed miserably in the House with only 8 yes votes.  The House was going to attempt to scrape together another proposal but once the Senate adjourned it was basically a moot point.  Instead, they adjourned as well and decided to keep negotiating behind the scenes.

The Chamber is a strong advocate for getting the tax package passed this time around.  However, the likelihood of all three portions passing next week might not be too high.  It is just another example of how Illinois politics gets things done.  Or doesn’t.  House committee members return for Revenue committee at 10am with the full House meeting at noon.  The Senate will wait to see what the House does on Monday and is scheduled to be in session on Tuesday at noon.  Stay tuned.