Dive Brief:
- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed 67% tax hike extension will not result in a spike for school and university spending.
- Under the Gov.’s new budget, K-12 education would see an additional $236 million; however, this is less than a quarter of the funding requested by the state Board of Education earlier this year.
- Quinn argues that if the state sunsets the tax hikes, it will see sharp cuts, mass teacher layoffs, property tax increases, higher tuition for university students, and overcrowding of classrooms.
Dive Insight:
Recently, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed a constitutional amendment tacking a 3% surcharge onto incomes over $1 million — the extra money specifically going to K-12 education. It would appear as if the proposal came at the right time, seeing as public education is not getting too much under Quinn's budget proposal.
Although the Governor did not mention Madigan’s proposal in his speech, afterwards the Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement supporting the millionaire surcharge.
