Remember this paragraph from a Chicago Journal editorial from last summer?

“New taxes paid to this sorry state are a bitter pill. Get a stiff drink. It’s time to swallow that pill.”

It was June 25, to be exact, when we published those words.

The issue at the time, if readers will recall, was that social service providers were scared witless that cuts to their funding would decimate some of the state’s most vulnerable populations.

As our story about the University of Illinois-Chicago in this week’s paper demonstrates, it’s not just the social service agencies under the gun.

Public institutions like UIC, an anchor of the Near West Side, are budgeting in an atmosphere of extreme fiscal uncertainty. More cuts and tuition hikes are on the table.

Our June editorial endorsed an income tax increase. The pill is bitter because so many elected officials in Springfield are visionless at best and thorough political hacks at worst.

But yes, this editorial will again also endorse an income tax increase.

A few basic realities:

The state can’t pay its bills: More money is going out than is coming, reports the comptroller’s office.

Cuts can’t get us everywhere: Unless we want this state to turn its back on the most vulnerable and see its public institutions, especially the schools, crumble. Literally.

Illinois’ tax code is regressive and unfair: A 2008 report from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability found that the state’s top five percent of earners pay less as a percentage of their income than everyone else in state and local taxes.

This gets fixed by an income tax increase. Quinn, however, according to news reports, will push a budget heavy on borrowing for the next fiscal year. And cuts to education, social services and aid to cities and towns are still expected.

There is another way. The House of Representatives should pass H.B. 174, which would raise an estimated $5 billion to $5.2 billion in new, recurring tax revenues. Individual income taxes would go up from 3 to 5 percent, while the corporate rate would tick up from 4.8 to 5 percent under this bill. Other provisions would offset the hit to most taxpayers.

H.B. 174 has already passed the state senate. It’s time for the house to follow. Bitter remains the operative word here.