Prairie State Wire

Republican House members are hoping House Resolution 135 will stop Democrats’ renewed push for a progressive income tax in its tracks.

"It’s no secret that we have serious budget issues in Illinois, but we just can’t keep taxing our residents to cover up what has been decades of overspending and mismanagement,” state Rep. Dan Ugaste told the The Caucus Blog. Ugaste, who is sponsoring HR 135, added “we should be more focused on reopening our state and promoting post-pandemic economic growth to increase our revenue picture, not pushing a second attempt at a failed tax proposal.”

The latest effort comes just months after voters roundly rejected the first attempt, even after Gov. J.B. Pritzker pitched it as a tax on the rich and pumped millions of his own money into a campaign to get the measure passed.

This time around every member of the Republican House has already signed onto the resolution opposing the proposal.

“We can’t be paying for past liabilities with a new tax increase,” Ugaste added. “Illinois voters made it clear they wanted no such change in our state income tax structure, and so we must find other solutions.”