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TexasTowelie's JournalIllinois Senate Passes Pritzker's Graduated Income Tax
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers are one step closer to putting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature campaign promise on the 2020 ballot: A proposed change to the Illinois constitution that would allow for higher income tax rates on higher levels of income.
“This is the next step in a more than decades-long effort to modernize our tax code,” said Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.
The Senate passed the measure 40-19. Republicans, who are a superminority in the chamber, were unanimous in opposition.
“We believe our current Constitution … wisely decided that Illinois taxpayers needed protections against politicians,” said Minority Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington. “The elimination of this flat tax provision, we believe, severely puts at risk raising taxes higher and particularly on the middle class.”
Read more: http://rockrivertimes.com/2019/05/01/illinois-senate-passes-pritzkers-graduated-income-tax/
Pension-themed threat mailed to legislators, union leaders, media
Illinois State Police are investigating an anonymous letter sent to numerous state legislators, union leaders and at least one media outlet threatening deadly consequences if state pension benefits aren't scaled back.
The mailing — postmarked in Champaign — was titled "Dead People Can't Collect Fat State Pensions" in bold black letters and was addressed to lawmakers, union leaders, public employees and "bondholders in the United States."
"You know the pension system is unsustainable. So do we Illinois Taxpayers," said the letter, first reported by the Capitol Fax newsletter. "You may think you can extract more money from us. We would advise you to think again."
The letter then cited the possibility of strangulation, arson and "many other effective means."
Read more: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2019-05-01/pension-themed-threat-mailed-legislators-union-leaders-media.html
(Champaign News-Gazette)
Florida man guilty of leaving threats for Bernie Sanders
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been convicted of leaving threatening voicemails for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Court records show that a federal jury in Orlando found 57-year-old Robert Francis Pratersch guilty Tuesday of threatening a federal official and interstate transmission of a threat to injure. He faces up to 15 years in prison at a July 16 sentencing.
Federal prosecutors say Pratersch left three profanity-laced, anti-Semitic voicemail messages last fall at Sanders's office in Burlington, Vermont. Authorities say Pratersch threatened to behead Sanders, "ISIS-style," and videotape the execution. The remark was a reference to the Islamic State militant group.
Pratersch was indicted by a federal grand jury in February and arrested later that month in St. Cloud, Florida.
Read more: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/florida-man-guilty-of-leaving-threats-for-bernie-sanders/article_7b66db9b-ee70-50de-b130-6de80856746f.html
New plan would pay some who do work for Illinois faster
The state of Illinois owes more than $6 billion dollars to almost 67,000 businesses and people who do business with the state, but a new plan in Springfield would pay some of them faster.
Illinois lawmakers are considering a plan to pay some people who do work for the state every week.
The legislation from state Sen. Ram Villivalam would require Illinois pay subcontractors on state projects every week. Right now, Dan Johnson with the contractors, said there's a gap.
"One the state pays the prime [contractor], current law allows 15 calendar days for those state taxpayers dollars to make their way to the pockets of the subcontractors who do the work," Johnson said Tuesday.
Read more: https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/new-plan-would-pay-some-who-do-work-for-illinois/article_303e3af6-6c09-11e9-b03e-af078b4993fb.html
Illinois lawmakers face growing challenges to keep 'pension promise'
Illinois lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker are weeks away from a state budget deadline and have yet to come to an agreement on how to address the state's growing pension tab, which threatens to consume an ever-greater share of state spending.
In his budget proposal, Pritzker wanted to short the state’s teacher pensions by hundreds of millions of dollars over the coming years. His plan calls for paying more into those pension systems later along with other changes.
“We must attack our pension liability from many angles all at once,” he told the General Assembly in February in his budget address. “We must be consistent and persistent in this battle.”
The governor's proposed pension holiday hasn't gone over well with some lawmakers and others who want to make the contributions that are growing annually.
Read more: https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/illinois-lawmakers-face-growing-challenges-to-keep-pension-promise/article_75460dfc-6b7a-11e9-aeff-f7ef63597b91.html
Beto O'Rourke travels California seeking direction and his old spark
Vincent Casalaina is quite captivated with Beto.
The 73-year-old Berkeley retiree spent a month last year in Texas working unsuccessfully to elect Beto — that would be Beto O’Rourke — to the United States Senate. He was on hand this weekend, clad in his “Beto for Senate” T-shirt, when the former El Paso congressman brought his much-hyped presidential bid to San Francisco.
Casalaina has been worried, though, about Beto, who has lost altitude — Oprah! Vanity Fair! — since his March launch. He needs to draw more attention, Casalaina said, suggesting O’Rourke follow President Trump around the country and draft on the gust of Democratic outrage that invariably follows.
But Jessica Freels, who crossed the bay from Walnut Creek to join hundreds of candidate-shoppers at San Francisco’s United Irish Cultural Center, counseled the opposite. “Dry matches and good batteries,” said the 47-year-old photographer, a maxim she described as keeping your head down, maintaining a steady balance and focusing on the basics.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-beto-orourke-visits-california-20190501-story.html
2 judges among 5 people shot overnight in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two southern Indiana judges attending a judicial conference in Indiana's capital were shot and wounded in downtown Indianapolis early Wednesday after someone began arguing with them in a restaurant's parking lot, police said.
The two men were among five people shot and wounded in three separate shootings in Indianapolis during a three-hour span Wednesday.
The two wounded judges were identified as Clark County judges Bradley Jacobs and Andrew Adams, according to a statement from the Indiana Supreme Court. The statement also said Jacobs was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and Adams was in stable condition.
Deputy Chief Christopher L. Bailey of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told The Indianapolis Star that the two judges had visited one or more downtown bars before they were shot about 3:30 a.m. in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant.
Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/indiana/judges-among-people-shot-overnight-in-indianapolis/article_ede3fcc6-9641-5a0e-933e-f8e7885b0332.html
Pete Buttigieg gave an answer on vaccine exemptions. He changed it after criticism.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg changed his answer to a national news organization's questions about vaccines, saying that he backed exemptions only for medical reasons after initially saying he also supported "personal belief and religious exemptions" in some instances.
The campaign's initial response drew criticism online and follows a growing number of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Indiana and across the nation.
Buttigieg responded to three questions he and many other 2020 presidential candidates were asked by BuzzFeed News for a story that posted Tuesday night. They are:
1) What do you believe about vaccines?
2) Do you believe vaccines are a possible cause of autism?
3) Do you support efforts to end religious and personal belief exemptions, leaving only medical exemptions?
Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/05/01/pete-buttigieg-vaccines/3639678002/
Amtrak ending Indianapolis-to-Chicago route with funding cut
LAFAYETTE — Amtrak will pull the plug at the end of June on its Hoosier State passenger line between Indianapolis and Chicago with the loss of funding in Indiana's new state budget.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the four-days-a-week train won't run after June 30, which is when its $3 million annual state subsidy ends.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb didn't seek a continuation of that funding, with administration officials saying the subsidy of about $100 per passenger was too high and ridership numbers too low.
Amtrak stopped in April taking reservations beyond June for the Hoosier State's trips on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Read more: https://www.hoosiertimes.com/ap/state/amtrak-ending-indianapolis-to-chicago-route-with-funding-cut/article_93f6efcb-141a-523a-9e8b-2198d6149c73.html
Former Sen. Joe Donnelly's new initiative: Teach Democrats to value rural voters
Former Sens. Joe Donnelly and Heidi Heitkamp are teaming up to launch a new initiative aimed at helping Democrats reach rural voters.
Both lost their re-election bids last year in red states, where Donald Trump won by double-digit margins in 2016 — Donnelly, here in Indiana, and Heitkamp in North Dakota.
Now, they're starting a project called One Country. Its goal: Teach Democrats how to reconnect with voters from the heartland.
"On issues of faith and family and country, Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to take those as his," Donnelly said Thursday. "Those are Democrat values as well. We need to talk about them."
Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/27/joe-donnellys-new-initiative-teach-democrats-value-rural-voters/3573371002/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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