Prairie State Wire

State Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) recently weighed in on the issue of high taxes in Illinois.

Bailey criticized Gov. JB Pritzker’s management of federal COVID-19 relief funds and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

"He [Pritzker] wasted every bit of it," Bailey told the Prairie State Wire. "We should have paid off debt, paid off the unemployment fund and he didn't do any of that. Unfortunately, we all will be feeling the repercussions of that very soon."

Illinois' property tax rate is the second highest in the nation at 2.27%, behind only New Jersey; a June report by Rocket Mortgage said. The owner of a $194,500 home in Illinois will pay $4,942 annually in property taxes. Thirty states have property tax rates lower than 1%.

"The high rates are obviously one of the main drivers of pushing people out of this state," Bailey said. "All these unfunded mandates are simply pushing the rates up and this recent decision to do away with cash bails will only cause more of that to happen."

Pritzker doubled Illinois' gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents in 2019, a FOX 32 Chicago report said. He also instituted an annual gas tax increase. But Illinois Democrats passed legislation postponing this year's scheduled gas tax increase of 2.2 cents from July to January.

The gas tax increase delay was part of a bundle of tax rebates and delays in the record $46.5 billion FY 2023 budget, an Illinois Policy report said. The tax rebates and delays will save the average Illinois family $556. The 2.2 cents increase of the gas tax will take effect in January 2023 and will be followed by another increase in July 2023—likely of 3.8 cents per gallon—bringing Illinois' total gasoline tax up to 45.2 cents per gallon.

Bailey called the move a "gimmick" that would do little to help Illinois families in the long run.

"It's an absolute election day gimmick," Bailey said. "Once I'm elected, I'll get rid of the automatic increase. If we reprioritize our spending we can get rid of that tax on a permanent basis."

The senator was also asked to describe the impact of the recent tax relief measures on his constituents.

"Unfortunately, small businesses and retail have suffered everywhere," Bailey said. "It's hurting local business and the higher taxes and utility costs have also contributed to all that. It's left too many people here with the decision of deciding rather to put food on the table or gas in their tank."

A March report by WalletHub found that Illinois has the tenth-overall highest tax burden in the nation at 9.7%. The report weighed property taxes, income taxes, and sales and excise taxes.