Illinois lame ducks raise income taxes by 66%

NY Times:

With only hours left before new state lawmakers were to take over, Illinois’s State Legislature narrowly approved early on Wednesday an increase of about 66 percent in the state’s income tax rate.

The vast size of the increase, the rarity of such increases here — the last one came two decades ago — and the hour of the vote (in the wee hours of Wednesday) all reflected the urgency and depth of this state’s fiscal crisis.

Even grudging supporters of the tax increase, which won no Republican support in a state capital controlled by Democrats, voiced a desperate sense of regret over the circumstances in which Illinois finds itself....

...
The urgency argument makes no sense with a new legislature coming into office today. It seems clear to me that the only urgency was the belief that the new legislators would not vote for the tax increase. The Democrats have certainly handed the Republicans an issue for 2012. They will also re running off taxpayers who will avoid the new tax. Business will also want to avoid Illinois. Why weren't they doing cuts in spending? I guess Democrats are not good at that.
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