Ammons: Budget Fix Needs New Revenue & Cuts From the Top, Not Bottom

Like many Democrats in the state legislature, State Representative Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) isn’t a big fan of the spending cuts proposed by Governor Bruce Rauner for next year’s budget. Ammons attended part of Monday’s state Senate hearing at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, where local officials spoke against those proposed cuts. Ammons told Illinois Public Media’s Jim Meadows that she agreed with the testimony of U of I chancellor Phyllis Wise on how the governor's proposals would hurt the university.

Ammons says new revenue (such as the restoration of the state income tax to its 2014 level) needs to be part of the state budget fix. And she says budget cuts need to be shared by the upper-income sectors of the state, and not just laid upon those who have the least.

Ammons suggests that the salaries Gov. Rauner is paying his key staff --- higher than what was paid by his predecessor, Pat Quinn --- could be reduced as part of state budget cuts. Such a cut would do little to address Illinois government's huge budget shortfall. But Ammons says there will be more alternate proposals for balancing the budget at a presentation she’s sponsoring with campus labor organizations later this month, featuring Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. It’s set for Monday, April 27th, from 4 until 6 PM, at the Champaign Public Library.