Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is working all the angles to win approval for his proposed gross receipts tax:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich used state economic development programs to target businesses that had received government grants and would support his plan to increase taxes on larger companies.
State-funded “entrepreneurship centers” were asked to contact businesses and recruit them for Blagojevich’s tour this week touting his proposal, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press.
And regional managers for the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity were instructed to contact area businesses to gauge support. To ensure they said the right things, managers were given a script that outlines the plan, which calls for $8.6 billion in business taxes to help schools and make health insurance available to everyone.
I’ve got to hand in to Gov. Blagojevich: he’s put Tim Kaine’s efforts to gin-up support for a transportation tax hike look positively pedestrian.