Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider spoke out against an amendment to overhaul Illinois' tax system that will appear on the 2020 ballot.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider spoke out against an amendment to overhaul Illinois' tax system that will appear on the 2020 ballot.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said a constitutional amendment to establish a graduated income tax system in the state unfairly punishes taxpayers, denouncing the Democrat-controlled house for voting the amendment onto the November 2020 ballot.
All 44 Republicans in the Illinois House of Representatives voted against the bill, Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 1, which nonetheless obtained the three-fifths majority needed to pass the house on May 27.
Schneider said after the vote that the bill called for taxing the most overtaxed group of Americans.
“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, to see Democrat lawmakers decide that a blank check from Illinois taxpayers is the solution to our financial issues,” Schneider said.
Schneider is one of many Republicans to have publicly opposed the bill. Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin called the vote “a step in robbing the pockets of Illinois businesses and families.”
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker campaigned on overhauling the state’s current tax system to replace it with a “fair tax,” now manifested in the amendment.
Pritzker praised the vote on Twitter, calling it a “giant leap forward for the middle class.”
“I campaigned on a promise to put Springfield back on the side of working families, to ask people like me pay more, and to protect middle class families,” the governor tweeted. “And today we have reached a major milestone.”
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