Governors wager on Bears-Packers game
By Dave McKinney Sun-Times Springfield bureau chief January 19, 2011 1:12PM
Updated: January 19, 2011 7:00PM
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Quinn and his Republican counterpart from Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker, put their sparring over Illinois’ increased income taxes aside Wednesday to cast a “friendly” wager over the outcome of this week’s NFC championship between the Bears and the Green Bay Packers.
The terms of their bet involve a bit of altruism along with a serving of humiliation.
The losing governor will have to go to the other governor’s state, volunteer in a food pantry and wear a T-shirt of the winning team while dishing out food to the needy. The losing governor also will have to fly the flag of the winning team in his office on Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl.
“I look forward to hosting Gov. Walker after the Chicago Bears are victorious on Sunday,” Quinn said in a prepared statement. “I am sure Gov. Walker will look great in blue and orange. Bear down, Chicago Bears.”
Walker scooped Quinn on the wager by about 45 minutes, announcing details of the bet after soliciting public input from his Twitter account.
“I received a lot of great ideas on Twitter including having the Packer flag fly in Illinois,” Walker said in a prepared statement. “I also received many tweets offering some of Wisconsin’s most famous foods as a wager. I’m grateful that win or lose, those food producers have committed to donating food to the pantry at which the losing governor volunteers. I look forward to hosting Gov. Quinn in Wisconsin after a 28-24 Packer victory.”
Walker has gotten under Quinn’s skin, of late, by launching a public push to lure Illinois businesses to cross the border into Wisconsin after Quinn raised Illinois’ corporate and personal income tax rates.
The personal income tax rate in Wisconsin is as high as 7.75 percent compared to Illinois’ 5-percent flat rate.
For businesses, Wisconsin imposes a 7.9 percent corporate income tax. Illinois’ new corporate income tax rate is 7 percent, though an additional 2.5 percentage points is tacked on top of that amount to cover Illinois’ personal property tax replacement tax.
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