SPRINGFIELD – A plan that would end Illinois’ two-year budget impasse by bringing in additional state revenues and expanding a key tax credit benefiting working families passed the Senate this afternoon.

“It is completely irresponsible for anyone to let this situation continue another day,” State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights) said. “Every week that goes by without acting, Illinois digs itself into deeper and deeper into a financial hole that will eventually be impossible to dig out of. It’s past time to do something for the good of our state.”

Hutchinson is lead Senate sponsor of Senate Bill 9, which includes slight increases to the personal and corporate income tax, an expansion of Illinois’ sales tax to include certain services, the elimination of three corporate tax loopholes and the creation of a new tax credit for teachers who purchase classroom supplies.  

Senate Bill 9 also doubles the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit for working families that has been credited with lifting millions above the poverty line since its creation in the 1980s. In addition, the plan lowers LLC filing fees and reinstates the Research and Development Tax Credit, Graphic Arts Exemption and the Manufacturing Purchase Exemption, all of which increases economic activity in the state.

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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights) joined her colleagues in Springfield today expressing their concern with fraudulent information being reported on a school funding reform proposal by a political group associated with the governor.

“Children in Kankakee County deserve nothing less than the best that we can give them,” Hutchinson said. “When false information is reported by a political group posing as a legitimate news organization in an effort to derail years of work to properly fund all school districts, it’s the children who ultimately suffer.”

Earlier this week, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1, which will dramatically reform the way Illinois funds public schools. The provision included a “hold harmless” provision, meaning that while some school districts will receive increased state aid, no school district would lose money under the plan.

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SPRINGFIELD – Thousands of Illinois families would again be eligible to access safe, affordable child care under a plan passed yesterday by State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights).

Hutchinson’s plan, contained in Senate Bill 1705, would restore eligibility for families with parents enrolled in education or training programs in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which helps low-income families afford the ever-increasing cost of child care.

“Access to affordable child care is a central part of any parent’s ability to go back to school to acquire skills, which in the long run lifts families out of poverty and increases their earnings potential,” Hutchinson said. “We as a state should not have a policy of standing in the way of families who are investing in themselves.”

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SPRINGFIELD – Currently, nearly 45 percent of private sector workers in Illinois do not receive a single paid sick day. For these workers, it can only take one life event, whether it be a car accident, a sick child or a family emergency, to cause long-term financial pain and in some cases even job loss.

In response to this reality, State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights) passed a proposal out of the Senate Labor Committee this morning that would make Illinois the eighth state in the nation to require some form of paid sick time.

“Nearly every industrialized country acknowledges that a healthier workforce is better for families and businesses alike,” Hutchinson said. “With increased inaction in Washington, it is important now more than ever for states like Illinois to step up and advance common-sense policies that protect families.”

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