While the new General Assembly has barely gotten started, Democratic lawmakers are already discussing plans aimed at creating various progressive tax schemes. State Senator Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) is sponsoring a resolution flatly rejecting any attempts to raise taxes through a progressive income tax.
“The voters of Illinois already rejected a progressive tax scheme in 2020,” said Bennett. “The Governor and his allies need to focus on responsible budgeting, making state government live within its means, just like the families of Illinois do with their own finances.”
In 2020, Democratic lawmakers, led by Governor Pritzker, muscled through a progressive tax proposal which placed a question on the ballot to decide the issue. Voters rejected the question and the proposal failed.
Just a couple of weeks into 2023, Democratic lawmakers have already begun discussing graduated tax legislation and other ideas such as so-called “wealth” taxes.
On January 25th, Bennett joined with a large number of other lawmakers at a press conference in the State Capitol to call attention to the issue. They unveiled their legislation, which rejects any further attempts to raise taxes by amending the constitution to institute a progressive income tax.