THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.
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ALSO IN PLANIT PLAY
GUYS SELLING DRESSES
• Woodstock native Tom Lind a soap opera regular • ‘Noah’ an audacious adaptation of Bible chapter
All-male bridal shop in East Dundee to be featured on new A&E show
Sen. tables plan to cut Fox agency
GOVERNOR UNVEILS 2015 BUDGET
QUINN: MAKE TAX HIKE PERMANENT
Bill shelved pending further study of issue By JIM DALLKE
At a glance
jdallke@shawmedia.com The Illinois senator who introduced a bill to dissolve the Fox Waterway Agency has shelved the idea pending a further study of the issue. Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, introduced Senate Bill 2696 in January, which would have eliminated the agency and folded its responsibilities into the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The bill was aimed at helping pare down Illinois’ nearly 7,000 units of government, Link said at the time. He shelved the bill Wednesday and intends to amend it after talking with the IDNR and groups involved with the waterway, according to Link spokeswoman Mary Shaw. “For lack of a better term, it’s a dead bill,” Shaw said. “There are ongoing negotiations. That’s why they’re shelving it.”
Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, introduced Senate Bill 2696 in January, which would have eliminated the Fox Waterway Agency and folded its responsibilities into the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Link shelved the bill Wednesday.
See WATERWAY, page A4 AP photo
Gov. Pat Quinn delivers his annual budget address Wednesday to a joint session of the General Assembly in the House chambers at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield.
Local state reps. lash out at proposal By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com The 2015 budget unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Pat Quinn makes the temporary 67 percent income tax increase permanent, breaking a promise made by Quinn and other Democratic leaders. In a move skeptics warned was coming since the moment Democratic lawmakers raised the tax three years ago, Quinn’s budget counts on keeping the tax hike, which is scheduled to start sunsetting Jan. 1. Lawmakers in 2011 raised the income tax 67 percent on individuals and 46 percent on businesses. Quinn in his short 25-minute budget address warned of “savage” cuts that would “starve” education and other services should the tax start expiring as scheduled, halfway into 2015 state budget year starting July 1. Senate Democrats estimate the budget gap next year at about $2.9 billion – $1.6 billion of that if the income tax hike decreases as was prom-
Voice your opinion Which would you rather have in Illinois? View the answers and vote at NWHerald.com.
ised. “If action is not taken to stabilize our revenue code, extreme and radical cuts will be imposed on education and critical public services,” Quinn said. “Cuts that will starve our schools and result in mass teacher layoffs, larger class sizes and higher property taxes.” Quinn’s budget ties in to the “birth to five” initiative he outlined in his State of the State Address in January – it calls for spending $100 million next year on early childhood programs and adds another $50 million for college assistance. The Democratic governor, who faces a tough re-election campaign against Republican Bruce Rauner, offered taxpayers a proposal for property tax relief in the form
of an annual $500 rebate, and increasing the earned income credit for low-income families. He also stated he would not accept new taxes on retirement income or expanding sales taxes to commonly used services. McHenry County’s local representatives lashed out at Quinn for what they called more taxing and spending financed by the breaking of a promise to taxpayers to let the tax increase expire. The increase of the state’s flat tax from a 3 percent to a 5 percent rate took about a week’s pay from every Illinois taxpayer. “With his announcement that he is pushing to make the temporary tax increase of 2011 permanent, he has shown us all that anything he says can’t be trusted,” state Rep. Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, said. “He is on record in 2011 as saying the income tax increase was temporary, but now he wants to take more and more out of the pockets of working Illinoisans and small businesses.”
See QUINN, page A4
What local legislators say on the address “With his announcement that he is pushing to make the temporary tax increase of 2011 permanent, he has shown us all that anything he says can’t be trusted,” – Rep. Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake “His proposed extension of the current income tax rates is simply the wrong policy to address the economic challenges our state faces,” – Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo “To trust them with even more money through a continuation of the 67 percent income tax increase or a progressive tax is a complete nonstarter for me,” – Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry
ANALYSIS
Russia linked to Obama priorities By JULIE PACE The Associated Press BRUSSELS – Even as he criticizes Vladimir Putin and imposes sanctions on Russia, President Barack Obama is struggling with the consequences of his own earlier quest for a fresh start between Washington and Moscow. From early in his presidency, Obama has engaged Russia to help achieve some of his key goals, including preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power and, more recently, solving the war in Syria before it spreads further in the Middle East. Now, he finds that the engagement is limiting how hard he can hit back at Russia without toppling everything else. White House officials insist that the U.S. can’t go back to a business-as-usual relationship with Russia as long as
President Barack Obama
Vladimir Putin President of Russia
See RUSSIA, page A4
LOCALLY SPEAKING Huntley’s Jessica Shields
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
HUNTLEY
CRYSTAL LAKE
DISTRICT 158 MOVES TO BAN E-CIGARETTES
STUDENT A FINALIST IN GEOGRAPHY BEE
District 158 students caught with an electronic cigarette at school could soon face suspension or expulsion, under a proposed district ban of the popular alternative nicotine product. Officials are seeing increased incidents of students using and possessing e-cigarettes at the district’s high school and middle schools. For more, see page B1.
Lukas Bettich’s collection of maps could just help him win a $50,000 scholarship. Bettich, a sixth-grader at Richard Bernotas Middle School, is one of only 100 fourth- through eighth-graders throughout the state selected by the National Geographic Society for the final round of the 2014 Illinois State Geographic Bee. For more, see page B1.
HUNTLEY: Red Raiders softball team rallies past Freeport, 14-8. Sports, C1
WEATHER HIGH
LOW
48 36 Complete forecast on A6
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Vol. 29, Issue 86
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