Springfield, IL... Illinois Democrats passed an historic 2% income tax increase Tuesday night. State Representative David Leitch (R-Peoria) opposed the income tax increase calling for spending cuts – not higher taxes – and streamlining government instead of continuing to grow a dysfunctional system.
"We must work to restructure state government and cut spending, instead of propping up the irresponsible spending of the past decade. Until there are meaningful spending reforms, an income tax hike only hurts our taxpayers and kills job growth; I am adamantly opposed to the bill," Rep. Leitch said. "It's no surprise the same Democrat majority responsible for today's financial mess is now demanding a major tax hike instead of doing the hard work of reforming the tax and spend culture so entrenched in Springfield."
The income tax increase passed the House on vote of 60-57. The personal income tax will be 5%, up from 3%. Corporate rates increase from 4.8% to 7% plus the 2.5% personal property replacement tax for a total of 9.5%.
Rep. Leitch continued, "I am pleased with the reform we saw last week on Medicaid. The reform will save millions of dollars by cutting waste, fraud and inefficiency. Yet what we saw this past week is just a start and additional, aggressive reforms must continue to get Illinois back on track. The Medicaid reform was a bi-partisan effort. The tax increase came from the back room."
"Since 2002, Blagojevich and Quinn have overspent by $14 billion," Leitch said.
The tax increase passed in the Senate about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.