Pihos: Income Tax Hike is Irresponsible

(Posted 03/19/2009) - State Representative Sandy Pihos of the 42nd District called Governor Pat Quinn’s first budget address proposal “disappointing” after hearing details of a sweeping income tax hike along with various other tax and fee increases.

“It is unbelievable that after six years of increased spending and mismanagement, we are faced with a proposal that calls for a massive tax increase right when families can afford it the least,” Pihos said. “It took years to get into this mess and we need to recognize that getting out of it responsibly will take some time as well. The architect of this budget, John Filan, was the architect of the last six budgets that got us into this financial difficulty in the first place.”

Governor Pat Quinn delivered his first annual budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly yesterday. Among the key components of Governor Quinn’s budget plan was raising the $78 license-plate sticker fee to $98, increasing the cigarette tax up by an additional $1-a-pack over 2 years, raising the income tax by 50% (from 3 to 4.5%), boosting the corporate tax rate to the maximum allowed under the state Constitution, skipping $5.7 billion in state pension payments over the next 3 years while only cutting less than 1% percent in state spending. The state budget is currently $4.2 billion in debt and facing a shortfall of nearly $11.5 billion by the summer of 2010.

“I strongly support the Governor’s creation of the Taxpayer Action Board and think he should have let them do their work before dramatic changes are made to the income tax structure,” Pihos stated, “The Governor’s income tax hike is targeted squarely at the middle class with absolutely no property tax relief in sight. This comes on top of the already high gas tax and sales tax we already pay. “Most middle class families will see their income taxes increase regardless of their marital or income status. This plan just raises their taxes without resorting to any real reductions in wasteful government spending. Families and taxpayers should not be forced to bail out a bloated, bureaucratic state government that has been mismanaged for years.”

Pihos has joined with the Illinois Policy Institute to support critical budget reforms to insure accountability from state programs, responsible state spending and holding the lines on taxes. “Over the last six years state spending has grown by over $9 billion-a 41% increase,” said Pihos. “The time is now to implement some accountability and responsibility to begin holding the line on both taxes and spending.”