Don Jensen wonders when Democratic lawmakers in Springfield will start to do the job he says they were elected to do.
“It seems they’re always looking for ways to increase taxes on people instead of working to cut spending and truly get our budget in order,” the chairman of the LaSalle County Republican Party told the Illinois Valley Times. “That’s all we ever see coming from Springfield. There’s never any effort to change anything structurally.”
The latest example Jensen points to is Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s heightened push for the progressive income tax that he first proposed on the campaign trial.
Pritzker reiterated the idea during his recent budget address. The Illinois Policy Institute reports that since his Feb. 20 speech, Pritzker and House Speaker Mike Madigan have raised the ante by actively pushing to advance such legislation prior to the current legislative session adjourning in Springfield at the end of May.
For the progressive tax plan to officially become state law, lawmakers must amend the Illinois constitution, then have voters approve the measure in a referendum vote that could be on the ballot as early as the 2020 general election.
Although Pritzker has promoted the proposed legislation as a “tax on the rich,” Jensen doesn’t think it would be long before everyone was feeling the sting.
“With a tax like this, more of the people who can leave Illinois will do just that,” he said. “Now, ask yourself who will be left here to pay those taxes?”
As further proof, Jensen points to data from IPI that shows over a yearlong period beginning in July 2017, states with a progressive income tax on the books have lost nearly 300,000 residents while states with no income tax have gained at least that many.
“I’m hoping that things like that will wake voters up here in Illinois, spark them to go to the polls and chose other candidates,” Jensen said. “It’s hard to believe most voters want more taxes and more government spending.”
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