MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Rickert (312) 607-4977

SPRINGFIELD (July 4, 2017) – The Illinois Senate voted to approve a massive 32 percent income tax increase on Illinois residents amid the pressure of a budget impasse that has entered its third year. The House of Representatives has already approved the tax increase and it is now headed to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. Illinois Policy CEO John Tillman released the following statement:

“The tax increase approved today by the Senate is the latest in a long line of bipartisan failures in Illinois. It forces every taxpaying Illinoisan to pay more money for the same old broken government. This budget and the tax hike that goes with it does not bring jobs back to Illinois, or make the state more attractive to job creators. It does not make Illinois more affordable for homeowners and families. It doesn’t put the poor and disadvantaged at the head of the line and ensure that the most vulnerable are taken care of. It doesn’t stop the cycle of deficit spending. It will not fully pay down the $15 billion backlog of bills, or address the state’s $130 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. It does not reform out-of-control spending – the real culprit behind Illinois’ problems – so that government spending grows more slowly than revenues.

“On every front, it fails.

“This legislature is brazenly claiming this plan solves Illinois’ fiscal and economic crises, when in fact it will make them worse.

“The governor has said he will veto this bill. He should. And then the General Assembly should come back and pass the budget Illinoisans want – and that our state needs.

“In the last few days alone, tens of thousands of Illinoisans have contacted their state lawmakers and demanded they not pass a state budget that contains a tax increase. It’s time for the governor and the legislature to join the people of Illinois in opposing any tax hike under any circumstances. Illinois does not have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. Support for any solution that does not address the underlying causes of the out-of-control spending that has plagued Illinois for decades is a failure of leadership.”