Latest news with #taxincrease
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislature bumps right up against midnight deadline as they pass $55 billion budget
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — It was a race against the clock as lawmakers tried to pass a budget package before the midnight deadline. Ultimately, they were able to get it done, getting the three branches of the budget package passed minutes before the start of June. The budget includes $55.2 Billion dollars in spending, and is balanced using just over one billion dollars in new tax increases. Democrats will also move money out of certain funds — like the road repair fund — to help fill some gaps in the budget. Ultimately, it's the same level of spending the governor proposed during his February budget address. Budget leaders warned of problems to come from potential federal cuts. 'This is a balanced budget,' Lead House Budgeteer Robyn Gabel said. 'This is a compassionate budget. This is a budget where we are planning and preparing for what we are afraid will be disastrous,' The budget fully funds the K-12 education obligation, but it will put a pause on a property tax relief grant program that was associated with K-12 funding. It only gave higher education a 1% increase instead of the 3% originally proposed. There is a significant cut to the number of state funded care hours that developmentally disabled people living in group homes get from the state. Experts in the field said the cut would amount to just over one less hour of care per person, per week. It also cuts the program which gives non citizens between the ages of 42 to 64 access to state sponsored health care. The version of the program for non citizens over the age of 65 is getting 110 million dollars to keep operating. Democrats went into budget negotiations having to fill a multi-billion dollar projected deficit, and they made a point of saying they would address potential cuts coming from Congress and the Trump Administration. Senate leaders said they did it without 'broad based tax increases.' 'There are no broad based tax increases in this budget,' Lead Senate Democrat Budgeteer Elgie Sims said. 'It's not an increase in the in the individual or corporate income tax increase. What you'll see is there are there's a recognition that there are there are we try to make sure that individuals pay their fair share and the corporations who are the most prosperous but most profitable also pay their fair share.' Instead, the budget will rely on a mixture of one-time revenue streams like tax amnesty programs and increases in certain 'sin taxes' on the sale of cigarettes and vapes, and sports bets. 'Pass taxes, crush people to the point where they want to leave our state or support the working men and women of Illinois?' Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) said during People are going to go packing, and my guess is they are going to send you guys packing.' Republicans were vehemently opposed to the budget, and they were incredibly frustrated with the process, as the full description of the proposed revenue plan did not come out until well into Saturday afternoon. 'They're going to pass it through the House and pass it through the Senate in less than 9 hours,' Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Lemont) said before the vote. 'That lack of transparency alone and that lack of being up with the people of Illinois should be more than enough reason for Governor Pritzker to veto.' The budget negotiations were slowed even further, as a totally separate revenue package full of tax increases was attached to the public transit reform legislation. In order to solve Chicago public transit's looming fiscal disasters and get downstate public transit systems the money to build out services further, Senator Ram Villivalam included a new delivery tax — referred to as an Environmental Impact Fee in the bill. The new tax would have charged a steady $1.50 Fee to all deliveries in the state, excluding deliveries of only medicine or groceries. They also considered a new rideshare tax on companies like Lyft and Uber in the transit fix. But the wheels fell off of transit talks, and the proposals did not pass. Ultimately, democrats were able to get the budget done, but there are still plenty of questions left to answer as they go into the summer. There is the possibility lawmakers come back later in the summer to address potential federal cuts, and that became even more likely now that they did not pass any form of transit reform. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
a day ago
- Business
- Fox News
Trump warns Rand Paul he's playing into 'hands of the Democrats' with 'Big, Beautiful Bill' opposition
President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., he would be "playing right into the hands of the Democrats" if he votes against Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill." "If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on U.S. Debt," Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. "Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him! The GROWTH we are experiencing, plus some cost cutting later on, will solve ALL problems. America will be greater than ever before!" Paul told "Fox News Sunday" last weekend he supports the tax and spending cuts in the bill, which he still slammed as "wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill, even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren't going to explode the debt. The problem is the math doesn't add up. They're going to explode the debt by, the House says, $4 trillion. The Senate's actually been talking about exploding the debt $5 trillion." The bill narrowly passed the House May 22 and will soon be voted on in the Senate, where Republicans can only afford to lose three votes. Others, like Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have also expressed concerns about the bill. Last weekend, Trump told reporters he was open to changes in the bill. "I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want," he said. "It will go back to the House, and we'll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I'd agree with, to be honest." Along with tax cuts, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also includes stricter requirements for accessing Medicaid, changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program and no taxes on overtime or tips. Democrats have slammed the Medicaid reform section of the bill, mentioning possible cuts as a driving issue ahead of competitive midterm elections in 2026. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan analyst for the U.S. Congress, estimates that 8.6 million people in the United States will lose health insurance by 2034 through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Medicaid reform. "The Democrats have been focusing on this specific line of attack that 13.7 million Americans are going to lose their health care, and that's just blatantly false," Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview this week. "Five million of those people are receiving a tax credit under the Affordable Care Act that was passed by the Democrats with a sunset date that was implemented by the Democrats. We're simply allowing the sunset date to expire as the Democrats originally intended," Houchin said. CBO estimates that 13.7 million Americans will lose coverage by 2034, which also includes the 5 million Americans who were already about to lose coverage. A number of Democrats have already deployed the figure in campaign messages rejecting Trump's bill passing in the House. "I don't trust the CBO score, nor should the American people, because it's been proven again and again to be wildly off," added Houchin, who served on three major committees leading budget markup, including the House Rules, Budget and Energy and Commerce committees.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
County approves $147.7 million budget
CUMBERLAND — Allegany County commissioners Thursday adopted the county's fiscal 2026 $147,717,558 operating and capital budget. The property tax rate will not change; however 'the income tax will increase from 3.03 to 3.20 beginning Jan. 1,' county Administrator Jason Bennett said. The budget reflects an increase of $3,649,434 in property tax revenue, and will use $3.1 million of fund balance and $2.6 million of reserved lottery proceeds to fund some capital projects, he said. The document includes a 2% cost-of-living salary increase for employees. It designates 25% of paper gaming revenues, after all administrative costs, to fire and rescue companies, and the remaining 75% for capital education project funding. The county designates the Allegany County Fire & Rescue Board to determine distribution of all revenues. According to the budget, a Maryland mandate increased the county's cost share of operating the local assessment and taxation office in the fiscal 2026 budget to 90% at a cost of $728,000. A fiscal 2026 state disparity grant was calculated at $7,298,611, and an additional supplemental disparity grant of $815,947 'will be appropriated as an offset to the teacher pension shift,' the budget states. 'Maryland decreased the county's disparity grant by $815,947 for FY 26,' it states. 'The cost of the teacher's pension shift became part of the Board of Education's maintenance of effort calculation in FY 2017.' The budget partially funds requests from Allegany College of Maryland, the Allegany County Health Department and the Allegany County Library System. It funds the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, Allegheny Highlands Trail, Tourism, Arts Council, Cumberland Theatre, Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization and the Toll House, from collections of the hotel and motel tax. As part of the budget, commissioners adopted water and sewer rates, recommended by the Allegany County Sanitary Commission, which mean customer utility bills will increase by an average of 5.1%. Board President Dave Caporale said via prepared statement the commissioners are 'proud to share that the FY 2026 budget includes no increase in property taxes.' However, the county raised the income tax rate to 3.2% to qualify for more than $5.7 million in additional state disparity grant funding next year. 'This adjustment helps us secure financial stability without raising other taxes and fees in the general fund,' he said. 'To further manage costs, we've cut additional spending and eliminated 10 full-time positions,' Caporale said. 'We also extend our sincere thanks to our partner agencies — Allegany College of Maryland, Allegany County Public Schools, the health department, library system and many others — for maintaining services with no funding increases,' he said. 'These choices have not been easy, but they will protect residents from added tax burdens during this time of inflation,' Caporale said. In other county business, commissioners: • Awarded First Fruits Excavating of Ridgeley, West Virginia, the site-work for the Village Crossing at Campobello project for a low-base bid of $4,029,329. • Changed the county's Purple Line to a demand-response, door-to-door, reservation-type service that will transport anyone within a half-mile of state Route 36 from Westernport to Interstate 68 at exit 34. Trips will originate in the Georges Creek region and take customers to the Cumberland area. The service will run Tuesdays and Fridays, beginning at the first reservation time in Georges Creek after 8:30 a.m.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil economic team to present alternative to tax hike, no defined solution so far
SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's government has agreed to present an alternative plan to the increase in the IOF tax on financial transactions in 10 days, lower house speaker Hugo Motta said on Thursday in a post on X. The controversial measure signed last week by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to raise revenue, and thereby limit an already substantial spending freeze aimed at meeting this year's fiscal rules, triggered intense backlash after it immediately drove up the cost of credit for companies, contributions to pension funds and some foreign exchange operations. Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron said at a press conference that there is still no defined solution and that discussions are yet to take place. Ceron stressed, nonetheless, that without the IOF hike, "we have a very complex situation" in which to fund vital public policies. "(Congress') desire is to create a more definitive solution," Ceron said, adding that there is now a sense of openness to structural discussions with lawmakers who, in the past, might not have been willing to engage. Lula's leftist administration has repeatedly emphasized its focus on rebalancing public accounts by eliminating tax distortions and what it sees as unjustified tax benefits, rather than cutting spending, which has notably increased since he took office. However, several measures aimed at curbing tax expenditures sent to Congress have either been significantly watered down or have not even begun moving through the legislative process. Motta earlier said that the Brazilian Congress is likely to overturn the government proposal to increase the tax on financial transactions if a legislative decree on the matter reaches the voting agenda. "The mood in both (congressional) houses is to overturn the measure," he told news outlet G1. Congress is willing to discuss reforms, Motta told G1, adding that he believes the government has resorted to maneuvers to increase revenue. "There is exhaustion in the Congress with measures that increase taxes, aim to raise revenue without structural discussion," he said.
ABC News
4 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Superannuation tax debate ramps up, Coalition's shadow ministry revealed
Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where Brett Worthington gets you up to speed on the happenings from Parliament House. There's been no shortage of "old man yells at cloud" feelings about the government's plans to increase the tax paid on superannuation balances above $3 million. The hysteria coming from some quarters, most noticeably two daily newspapers, makes it seem like it was a tax that was suddenly sprung on voters after an election. But this is far from a "there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead" moment. It's been more than two years since Treasurer Jim Chalmers stood in the prime minister's courtyard at Parliament House to announce a doubling of a tax rate. The plan was to legislate it but not have it come in for two years, noticeably after the 2025 election. Currently, the government charges 15 per cent tax on superannuation fund earnings, but only while you are still working and contributing money into it, known as the accumulation phase. The increase to a tax rate of 30 per cent will apply to accounts with $3 million or more during the accumulation phase. Treasury estimates around 80,000 people, or 0.5 per cent of super balances, would be hit with the higher tax bracket for every dollar above $3 million. When he announced the change, Chalmers said one account held more than $400 million in superannuation, a scheme originally designed for people to have a comfortable retirement. He said 17 people had more than $100 million in their account and while the average balance of accounts over $3 million was close to $6 million, the average super balance had just $150,000. Chalmers introduced the legislation into parliament in November 2023 and it passed the House of Representatives in October 2024 but Labor was unable to find the votes to pass it through the Senate before the election. Having just been delivered a whopping electoral victory, critics have been quick to hysterics that the government might actually do what it said it would do. The most contentious parts are that it isn't indexed (meaning the $3 million threshold won't increase with inflation) and that the plan to tax unrealised gains. There have been no shortage of claims about farmers having to sell their farms or property investors their places because they'll face having to pay tax on assets that have increased in value, even if its only on paper. Supporters of the tax change say the Chicken Little critics, carrying on as if the sky is falling in, are only behaving like that because they're wealthy individuals who'll have to pay more tax after having long benefited from concessional tax rates. Tax minimisation, or worse avoidance, is the reason so many of those assets — be it the farm or investment properties — were put into superannuation in the first place. Labor has faced no shortage of critics for lacking ambition in overhauling not just Australia's taxation system but the broader federal budget, which is heavily reliant on personal income tax. A failure to implement even the smallest of tax changes has some fearing it will all but kill off any broader ambition to overhaul how the government raises revenue. Covering the Coalition break up cum make up has been akin to writing recaps of Married at First Sight, except in the case of the Nationals more people watch the reality program than voted for the country party. Labor too revelled in the chaotic scenes coming from the Coalition, announcing a contentious gas project as the Liberal and Nationals leaders stepped up to announce their parties were getting back together. The off again, on again antics left no shortage of people wondering what it was all for. David Littleproud emerged with no shortage of dints in his leadership of the Nationals. Having not gained the extra cabinet seat he wanted, one of the only tangible thing that emerged from it was the sudden friendship from one-time rivals Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack. You know what they say about the enemy of your enemy, but we digress. Littleproud claimed he had opted for generational renewal in who he appointed to the frontbench. Joyce pulled out the the receipts, eager to point out just how many of the frontbenchers were older than him. Joyce also said Littleproud need not have rung in him to tell him he wasn't getting a job, telling the ABC he'd already read about it in the papers. More unorthodox was new Liberal leader Sussan Ley's decision to call every single member of her party. The blokes who preceded her usually just called the victors. Oh to have been on the call with Jane Hume, undoubtedly the biggest victim in the new-look opposition. The architect of the disastrous work from home policy, Hume received a call from Ley to learn she'd be working from the backbench, joining fellow former shadow cabinet members Sarah Henderson and Claire Chandler. An unhappy Henderson was quick to say high-profile women were being overlooked. Earlier in the week she'd derided former leader Peter Dutton for being too focused on cost of living in the campaign (others would argue that was the least of the disastrous campaign's problems). Female representation in the shadow cabinet has undoubtedly gone backwards since the last term. Ley pointed to the promotion of new women to the outer ministry as a sign of renewal coming through the ranks. "This is their first step, but it's far from their last," she said. Ley rewarded those who supported her bid for leadership, while also keeping senior conservatives in high profile roles, even if not in the job they were asking for. James Paterson made no secret of his desire to stay in a national security role but was moved to finance, replacing Hume, while Andrew Hastie, who wanted a social or economic portfolio, replaces Paterson at home affairs. Ley also appointed Tim Wilson and Giselle Kapterian to roles despite recounts playing out in their seats. "Gisele's appointment is a vote of confidence in the future of women in our party and it's a clear message to communities, like Bradfield, that if you support your local Liberal member, they will have a direct say in the decisions that change the direction of this country," she said. Labor's post-election honeymoon, which to date has seen a RBA rate cut and a Coalition implosion, saw the good news continue to flow at the start of the week with confirmation it had just elected Australia's youngest ever senator, South Australian Charlotte Walker whose 21st birthday was election day. The party also picked up an extra senate seat in Victoria and the ABC is projecting the party will retain the Melbourne seat of Calwell, meaning Labor didn't lose a single seat in the election. After facing a nervous wait, Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie held off a challenge from Labor and One Nation to retain her Senate seat. With the NSW race yet to be called, Labor is on track to win 29 seats in the upper house, meaning the Greens are the only crossbenchers needed to pass legislation. It could have got as high as 30 but Labor lost the final WA senate seat to One Nation, taking Pauline Hanson's ranks to three. It hasn't all been smooth sailing for the good ship Albanese. The factional warlords who oversaw Ed Husic's demise from the cabinet are getting a reminder of just how useful MPs can be from the backbench (RTYI Jane Hume). Initially opting for an opinion piece in Guardian Australia, the former industry minister criticised his own government for its response to Israel blocking aid getting into Gaza. By Monday, Albanese was offering his strongest criticism of the Israeli government. He said Israel's "excuses and explanations" for blocking aid were untenable and "completely unacceptable" and "an outrage". While Husic was calling for Australia to call in Israel's ambassador, privately the government insisted that was unnecessary given the prime minister had gone a step further and raised his criticisms direct with the country's president when the two men were in Rome recently. Albanese's approach to contentious foreign affair issues has been to step out with leaders of like-minded nations, especially Canada and New Zealand. Husic was quick to note that didn't happen this time when the UK, France and Canada threatened to impose sanctions on Israel. While praising the PM for speaking out, he insisted now was the moment for actions, not just words. No longer bound by collective responsibility and cabinet solidarity, Labor's leaders are getting a reminder of the consequences of kicking someone unafraid to use their voice outside of the tent.
