The last time he ran for governor, Pat Quinn embraced raising Illinois' income tax rate. He's not doing that this time around, though he's not ruling it out, either:
When it comes to Illinois' finances, attention has been laser-focused on the underfunding of the state's pension systems.
But state Senate President John Cullerton recently pointed out -- Illinois has other budget issues ahead.
This fiscal year, Illinois had to spend $6.8 billion on pensions. That's caused cuts in other areas of state spending. Cullerton, in an interview with WGN, says next year, the scheduled expiration of the income tax increase is going to put even more pressure on the budget.
Gov. Pat Quinn refused to weigh in -- here's how he answered when asked about supporting the higher income tax:
QUINN: "Well I think we have to deal with the pension reform which is the number one fiscal, financial issue."
REPORTER: But ... you campaigned on raising the income tax, should it stay in place?
QUINN: "I have worked very hard on pension reform, I know the committee that I proposed ..."
Illinois' has a 5 percent income tax; it's scheduled to drop to 3.75 percent in 2015.