SPRINGFIELD, Ill. � Senate Republicans want Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic leaders to take all tax increases off the table for the 2022 budget.
They’re referring to the state’s tax incentives that Pritzker commonly calls tax loopholes. The administration hopes to save nearly $1 billion by eliminating or tweaking nine of those incentives.
However, Republicans say Democrats are creating a fake deficit to make up for their overspending. Senate GOP members say Illinois has $16 billion in unexpected revenue. As a result, they argue there’s no need to take away the tax credits.
“He does not need to cut revenues other government entities and our state need and their constituents are counting on,� said Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles). “The governor has every opportunity to do the right thing and keep his word and be an honest broker in this process.�
Some of the tax incentives were included in the 2019 Rebuild Illinois capital spending agreement. Republicans feel Democrats only want to take those credits away because they lost the fight for a graduated income tax last year.
Still, Democratic leaders have said they may keep some of the incentives in place.
�$16 billion, and they still want more. It is time for this to end,� said Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet). “They’re coming for school kids and getting rid of the scholarship credit. They’re coming for farmers and truckers and the environment and biodiesel, they’re coming for men and women with dirt on their fingernails. Think JB Pritzker has dirt under his fingernails? I don’t think so.�
