Education State of the States

Illinois Governor Recommends Overhaul of State’s Tax System

By Sean Cavanagh — March 13, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Illinois

Gov. Rod Blagojevich used his March 7 budget address to unveil a proposal to overhaul his state’s tax system, a move that he predicts would pour billions of dollars in new revenue into Illinois schools.

The Democratic governor, speaking to a joint session of lawmakers, called for replacing Illinois’ corporate income tax—which he described as “loophole-riddled”—with a gross-receipts tax, or a tax on goods and services provided.

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich

That change would be fairer to middle-income and working-class families, and would relieve local governments and school districts from relying on property taxes, argued Gov. Blagojevich, who was re-elected to a second term in November. The governor said Illinois now has “one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation.”

Such a tax overhaul, he said, would “finally bring an end to the savage inequality in how we fund our schools.”

The proposed tax shift would provide schools with an additional $10 billion over the next four years, the governor predicts. Overall, the K-12 general-fund budget would increase by 23 percent, to $8 billion in fiscal 2008, which begins July 1, from $6.5 billion in fiscal 2007.

For years, education advocates and some legislators have decried Illinois’ system of paying for schools as being too reliant on property taxes, a structure that they say harms tax-poor school districts. Some lawmakers have proposed reducing property taxes and increasing state income taxes, but the governor has rejected that approach.

Clare Fauke, a spokeswoman for A+ Illinois, which seeks to improve school funding and school quality, said her organization supports the governor’s plan. “We think it’s a strong proposal,” Ms. Fauke said. “It’s a good starting point.”

The governor also proposes leasing Illinois’ state-run lottery to help close a gap in the state’s pension fund, which supports teachers and other state employees’ retirement and has an unfunded liability of $41 billion.

Read a complete transcript of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s 2007 budget address, posted by Illinois’ Office of the Governor. Also, video and audio of the governor’s speech is available.

See Also

See other stories on education issues in Illinois and data on Illinois’ public school system.

A version of this article appeared in the March 14, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read