The future of the tax surcharge that throws money toward education and cities is cloudy as lawmakers look for trade-offs with the governor before committing to extend the bill.

Gov. Jim Edgar wants a three-fifths majority to pass the income tax surcharge, accounting for $6.4 million of NIU’s state funds.

However, some state legislators feel Edgar needs a better sales pitch before passage.

Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, said Edgar “will have to make some trade-offs” to fulfill his expectations.

But Welch did concede that it is too early to forecast how the surcharge will fair in the General Assembly.

When the bill first came before the Senate in 1989, it needed 30 votes to pass and only received votes from 28 Democrats. The bill was brought before the Senate a second time and passed with the help of another Democrat and one Republican—Sen. Ralph Dunn, Duquoin.

“I would vote (for the surcharge) again,” said Dunn, whose district includes Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. “Down here, we need state money.”

But one Republican will not be enough. Edgar will need another six votes to realize his three-fifths goal. Dunn said that eight to 10 other Republicans said that they would vote for the bill in 1989, but changed their minds when another legislator spoke with them on the issue.

Things might be different now. Edgar announced Monday across the board cuts to free up money to pay other state bills. Included in the cuts was a 1 percent cut from education.

That will help Edgar in passing the surcharge, a heavy campaign issue last November.

“It’ll go through the House like a bullet,” said Sen. Jack Schaeffer, R-Crystal Lake. But Schaeffer doubted that the bill will pass by a three-fifths vote. There are “serious problems” with the bill as it is, he said.

One such problem is the bill also gives money to local governments. “Municipalities in my region didn’t ask for it,” he said. “It is not a crisis compared to education.”

Welch said he did not vote for the surcharge in 1989 because the bill spent $2 toward local municipalities for every $1 of education money.