Gov plans $300 per-child tax rebate
STATE OF THE STATE | Spending plan faces questions on how to pay for it
SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois parents could get an unexpected gift from state government if lawmakers back Gov. Blagojevich's call Wednesday to grant $300 per child rebates to jump-start the ailing economy.
The idea represented the surprise cornerstone of Blagojevich's proposed 2009 budget, which seeks to spend billions of new dollars on expanded health care, state construction and individual and corporate tax breaks.
(AP)
To qualify for a one-time $300 per child tax break, a family:
* Must earn at least $3,000 annually but no more than $75,000 per individual or $150,000 for joint filers.
* Have a child age 16 and under as of Dec. 31, 2007.
* File a tax return before April 15 to receive a check by the end of the year.
"Economic experts say this is good policy," the governor said, referring to his $900 million offering to Illinois parents. "It will strengthen the economy by putting more money into the hands of families."
But the idea, like other key pieces of Blagojevich's budgetary puzzle, faces an uphill fight in Springfield amid questions about how to pay for it and deep legislative distrust toward anything bearing the unpopular governor's name.
The child tax rebate is patterned on the newly passed federal economic stimulus deal and would apply to children under 17 as of Dec. 31, 2007. Those who file tax returns by April 15 would receive checks from Springfield by the end of the year with the Legislature's approval.
As they did for most of his speech, lawmakers and others sat on their hands when Blagojevich mentioned the child tax credit during a brief, 20-minute address to the General Assembly that was largely bereft of details, bogeymen or applause lines.
"I'd love to give people an income tax credit for their children. But that being said, we have to make sure we have the money for it," said first-term Democratic Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, one of the plan's many skeptics and a potential 2010 gubernatorial hopeful.
To pay for the child tax rebate, the governor wants to borrow against millions of dollars the state gets from having settled a lawsuit against tobacco companies in the 1990s.
To fund other spending, Blagojevich turned to or tweaked several moneymaking ideas that the Legislature previously rejected, including a 3 percent payroll tax on employers to pay for expanded state health care. He also proposed leasing an 80 percent stake in the state's lottery to fund schools and a proposed $25 billion state construction program.
Blagojevich's main legislative nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), stopped short of signing off on any of the governor's plans.