Edwardsville, IL...As Illinois taxpayers this week struggled to pay the record state income tax increase adopted by Democrats last year, State Representative Dwight Kay (R - Glen Carbon) has renewed his push to better protect taxpayers from future partisan tax hikes. On Wednesday, Rep. Kay called for House passage of a constitutional amendment requiring the legislature to approve any future tax increase by a three-fifths vote instead of a simple majority.
"The 67% income tax increase has negatively impacted residents of my district and the entire state. The decision to raise taxes shouldn't be made by only '50%-plus-one' of their elected officials," Rep Kay said. "Taxes impact everyone. We should require more than a simple majority of legislators to agree that taxes should be raised. The only way we can do that is to require a supermajority vote approval for all tax increases."
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The House Republicans have filed several House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment (HJRCA) bills calling for a supermajority vote in the legislature to approve a tax increase, including HJRCAs 23 and 44. Rep Kay on Wednesday called for the resolutions to be released from the House Rules committee where they have been stalled since their introduction.
"We require a three-fifths vote in order to preempt Home Rule, override a Governor's Veto, accelerate effective dates of legislation, borrow, and amend the State Constitution. Shouldn't we also require one when we debate a tax increase," Rep. Kay said.
