State Rep. candidate Judith Ross on TV Tonight
Revised slightly on May 23 at 3:45 pm:
Jeff Berkowitz: House Bill 750 [the Tax Swap bill], do you support that?
Judith Ross: …Yes, I do.
Berkowitz: Some people say that is an increase in revenue for the State from anywhere from four to seven billion dollars…Do you agree that that estimate is correct?
Judith Ross: …That estimate sounds halfway decent. I am not sure it’s totally correct.
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Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of “Public Affairs,” features Judith-Rae Ross, who is running in the Democratic Primary in the 17th District for the opportunity to take on nine-year moderate Republican incumbent State Rep. Beth Coulson [R-Glenview].
The show airs throughout the City of Chicago tonight at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV]. See here for more about the topics discussed on Tonight’s show with State Rep. Candidate Ross, as well as for partial transcripts of the show. An additional partial transcript is included, below.
See here for the trials and tribulations experienced by Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan over the last few years as he unsuccessfully sought to remove moderate Republican Beth Coulson from the State House [This is starting to resemble an Elmer Fudd cartoon], as well as more about the background and experience of State Rep. Ross.
Ross, a Ph. D. in history and a former Niles Township trustee for more than two decades, is giving this North Shore contest an early start, having announced her candidacy in April, eighteen months before the 2006 general election and eleven months before the primary.
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Judith Ross: …There could also be an ease on [the state deficit from] a tax swap. I think you mentioned it on education.
Jeff Berkowitz: House Bill 750, do you support that?
Judith Ross: …Yes, I do.
Berkowitz: Some people say that is an increase in revenue for the State from anywhere from four to seven billion dollars…Do you agree that that estimate is correct?
Judith Ross: …That estimate sounds halfway decent. I am not sure it’s totally correct.
Berkowitz: Some critics call that a whopping tax increase. Are you in favor of a whopping tax increase if you favor House Bill 750?
Judith Ross: …Critics are easy to characterize. What that would do would give property tax relief so grandma and grandpa wouldn’t have to move. At the same time, give more money to the local schools. And, give more money to the states. And, that two percent increase—
Berkowitz: But, it’s a whopping tax increase. The income tax is going to go up from 3% to 5% [on individuals; for corporations-- it almost doubles].
Judith Ross: …For the top 40% only [of individual income earners], and there it is a 2% increase. That’s a cup of coffee and a bagel.
Berkowitz: What’s the income of the top 40% in Illinois? What does it start at in Illinois?
Judith Ross: …I believe it starts at 90 [thousand dollars], but I am not sure.
Berkowitz: Okay, so it is a whopping tax increase for people with 90,000 [dollars annual income] and above.
Judith Ross: …Two percent of $90, 000 and above.
Berkowitz: So, if somebody is at $150,000—two percent of 60,000 [dollars]—some quick math, what is that?
Judith Ross: …Two percent of 60,000—you’re talking—I’d have to have a calculator.
Berkowitz: $1200. [The $1200 figure is incorrect. My on-air math was fine, but my analysis was off and I apologize to all. The 2% increase applies, according to what Ross suggested, to individuals [or those married and filing jointly] with an income greater than $90,000, but the higher tax applies to all of the individual’s income, not just the portion above $90,000, as I mistakenly calculated above, on the show. So, for an individual with $150,000 in income, the increased 2% tax applies to all of the individual’s income, i.e., $150,000, resulting in an increased state income tax payment of about $3,000-- making the total state income tax payment for such a taxpayer equal to $7,500, up from $4,500. Exemptions or deductions may lower this amount. And, the tax swap contemplates some reduction of real estate property taxes, so that savings needs to subtracted from the higher income tax payment—at least to the extent that the real estate tax is actually reduced, to determine the net projected increase in taxes. Also, I believe that the tax swap's higher income tax may kick in at $70,000 in income, rather than the $90,000 income level, as stated above.]
Judith Ross: …$1200.
Berkowitz: That’s okay with you? If you’re talking to the voters, they are going to say it is Okay?
Judith Ross: …There are an awful lot of people who support House Bill 750.
Berkowitz: Okay, you are a supporter of House Bill 750. The tax swap.
Judith Ross: …There are some tweaks that have to be made.
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Judith-Rae Ross [D- Skokie, 17th Dist. Candidate], recorded on May 8, 2005 and as is airing on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs tonight, May 23 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21.
*******************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
***************
Jeff Berkowitz: House Bill 750 [the Tax Swap bill], do you support that?
Judith Ross: …Yes, I do.
Berkowitz: Some people say that is an increase in revenue for the State from anywhere from four to seven billion dollars…Do you agree that that estimate is correct?
Judith Ross: …That estimate sounds halfway decent. I am not sure it’s totally correct.
**********************************************
Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of “Public Affairs,” features Judith-Rae Ross, who is running in the Democratic Primary in the 17th District for the opportunity to take on nine-year moderate Republican incumbent State Rep. Beth Coulson [R-Glenview].
The show airs throughout the City of Chicago tonight at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV]. See here for more about the topics discussed on Tonight’s show with State Rep. Candidate Ross, as well as for partial transcripts of the show. An additional partial transcript is included, below.
See here for the trials and tribulations experienced by Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan over the last few years as he unsuccessfully sought to remove moderate Republican Beth Coulson from the State House [This is starting to resemble an Elmer Fudd cartoon], as well as more about the background and experience of State Rep. Ross.
Ross, a Ph. D. in history and a former Niles Township trustee for more than two decades, is giving this North Shore contest an early start, having announced her candidacy in April, eighteen months before the 2006 general election and eleven months before the primary.
******************************************
Judith Ross: …There could also be an ease on [the state deficit from] a tax swap. I think you mentioned it on education.
Jeff Berkowitz: House Bill 750, do you support that?
Judith Ross: …Yes, I do.
Berkowitz: Some people say that is an increase in revenue for the State from anywhere from four to seven billion dollars…Do you agree that that estimate is correct?
Judith Ross: …That estimate sounds halfway decent. I am not sure it’s totally correct.
Berkowitz: Some critics call that a whopping tax increase. Are you in favor of a whopping tax increase if you favor House Bill 750?
Judith Ross: …Critics are easy to characterize. What that would do would give property tax relief so grandma and grandpa wouldn’t have to move. At the same time, give more money to the local schools. And, give more money to the states. And, that two percent increase—
Berkowitz: But, it’s a whopping tax increase. The income tax is going to go up from 3% to 5% [on individuals; for corporations-- it almost doubles].
Judith Ross: …For the top 40% only [of individual income earners], and there it is a 2% increase. That’s a cup of coffee and a bagel.
Berkowitz: What’s the income of the top 40% in Illinois? What does it start at in Illinois?
Judith Ross: …I believe it starts at 90 [thousand dollars], but I am not sure.
Berkowitz: Okay, so it is a whopping tax increase for people with 90,000 [dollars annual income] and above.
Judith Ross: …Two percent of $90, 000 and above.
Berkowitz: So, if somebody is at $150,000—two percent of 60,000 [dollars]—some quick math, what is that?
Judith Ross: …Two percent of 60,000—you’re talking—I’d have to have a calculator.
Berkowitz: $1200. [The $1200 figure is incorrect. My on-air math was fine, but my analysis was off and I apologize to all. The 2% increase applies, according to what Ross suggested, to individuals [or those married and filing jointly] with an income greater than $90,000, but the higher tax applies to all of the individual’s income, not just the portion above $90,000, as I mistakenly calculated above, on the show. So, for an individual with $150,000 in income, the increased 2% tax applies to all of the individual’s income, i.e., $150,000, resulting in an increased state income tax payment of about $3,000-- making the total state income tax payment for such a taxpayer equal to $7,500, up from $4,500. Exemptions or deductions may lower this amount. And, the tax swap contemplates some reduction of real estate property taxes, so that savings needs to subtracted from the higher income tax payment—at least to the extent that the real estate tax is actually reduced, to determine the net projected increase in taxes. Also, I believe that the tax swap's higher income tax may kick in at $70,000 in income, rather than the $90,000 income level, as stated above.]
Judith Ross: …$1200.
Berkowitz: That’s okay with you? If you’re talking to the voters, they are going to say it is Okay?
Judith Ross: …There are an awful lot of people who support House Bill 750.
Berkowitz: Okay, you are a supporter of House Bill 750. The tax swap.
Judith Ross: …There are some tweaks that have to be made.
*************************************
Judith-Rae Ross [D- Skokie, 17th Dist. Candidate], recorded on May 8, 2005 and as is airing on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs tonight, May 23 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21.
*******************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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