Springfield - State Representative Avery Bourne (R-Raymond) joined her colleagues in the Illinois House Republicans in filling legislation, House Resolution 153, stating their united opposition to Governor Pritzker’s proposal of a graduated income tax – an “Unfair Tax.” Bourne is a chief-co-sponsor of the resolution and spoke at a press conference Wednesday about her concerns with the graduated tax proposal.
Rep. Bourne stated, “Illinoisans cannot afford another income tax increase and we cannot afford a system that allows politicians to play with rates and brackets just to fill budget holes. A graduated income tax will inevitably bring a tax increase on a majority of Illinoisans and will hurt small businesses - making us even less competitive with our surrounding states. I’m proud to stand in opposition to Governor Pritzker’s proposed tax increase.”
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In his Budget Address last week, Governor Pritzker called for the passage of a progressive income tax to fund state government and help pay for many of his new spending proposals. The Governor did not provide details on what the tax rates and tax brackets would look like. Bourne responded to that saying, “We’ve heard a lot of promises about what the tax increase will look like, yet we haven’t seen any tax brackets. My guess is that’s because Democrats know they can’t pay for the billions of dollars in promised spending without hitting the middle class. There simply aren’t enough rich people in Illinois to pay for all of Pritzker’s promises and they know that.”
Last year, a House Democrat sponsored House Bill 3522, which sought to impose a graduated income tax. Under this plan, the non-partisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability revealed that 77% of Illinois taxpayers would see an increase in their income tax liability for a total of over $5.2 billion in new taxes.
Bourne re-iterated, “This graduated income tax proposal will punish hard-working families and small businesses that make up a majority of the tax base in Illinois. There is nothing fair in making average Illinoisans pay for the shortcomings of a legislature that has created a tax-and-spend paradigm that is unsustainable.”
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