Next week, lawmakers are expected to head back to Springfield to resume budget negotiations. At this point, there are essentially two options on the table: raise the income tax rate or finalize major cuts to the human services budget. Yesterday, the Daily Herald examined the debate over the size of our state goverment and provided some useful context.

For instance, contrary to arguments that Illinois government should be drastically cut, it turns out that we have the second smallest number of state employees per capita, as the graph below shows (which accompanied the article):

As this next graph illustrates, the number of government workers in Illinois has dropped by 22 percent over the past eight years:

Meanwhile, Illinois state spending -- which ranked 39th in the nation in 2007 at $4,628 per capita -- has been relatively flat over the past decade. Because Illinois is the fifth wealthiest state in the country, it begs a fairly straightforward question: If spending is so low, how can the state be so broke?  The answer is simple. As the Tax Foundation reports, Illinois taxpayers paid a mere $4,346 per capita in state and local taxes combined in 2007, which amounts to one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation.  Add ongoing pension deferrals with recession-related revenue drops and you've got a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall.

Today, Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown grapples with that reality:

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but we really are going to have to raise taxes in Illinois to dig our way out of this state budget mess. That means an income tax increase most likely.

If you're sitting at home and trying to make sense of all those state budget stories and threatened cuts, you're probably trying to figure out if our politicians are running another bluff.

No, the problem is real. [...]

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes. Nobody wants to vote to raise taxes. Nobody wants to write a column telling you we're going to need to raise taxes, especially with the economy in the Dumpster and everybody taking a hit.

But this is one of those times where everybody has to stand up and be counted, even at risk of being voted off the island.

Brown goes on to push back against Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno's claim that the threat of draconian human services cuts is just a political ploy by Gov. Quinn.  Read the whole thing.