“I voted against the graduated tax today because we can’t trust giving Democrats a blank check. A graduated tax is bad policy for Illinois. The legislation passed today is estimated to take $3.4 billion more out of the pockets of hard working people in our state. It will have a negative impact on farmers, small businesses, working families and economic development throughout my district.
Chicago politicians have a history of increasing incomes taxes and increasing spending. A graduated tax will only make it easier for politicians to increase income taxes in the future. Just last month, our state brought in $1.5 billion more in revenue than estimated. Yet, this year Democrats are planning on spending every dime by creating new programs instead of paying down Illinois’ $6.5 billion in unpaid bills. We need to stop the income tax hikes and stop the spending. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem which is why I voted against the graduated income tax hike approved today.”