In one of the more bizarre statements this post-election season, Gov. Pat Quinn (D) of Illinois has advised the legislature that an alternative plan to raise revenue won’t work and instead, he wants to focus on raising the state’s income tax. Days after squeaking by in the gubernatorial race, Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times that a tax hike should “precede everything else.” Quinn’s opponent in the election, Bill Brady (R), was opposed to an income tax hike.
Does Quinn’s victory mean that voters were saying yes to a tax hike in that election? It’s hard to tell though Quinn certainly thinks so, saying, about the hike:
We have to deal with hard realities. This is the truth. The truth won on Tuesday, and I intend to keep telling the truth to the Legislature.
The election was the closest in the state in three decades with Brady finally conceding the race on Friday, November 5.
Quinn’s own party isn’t as adamant about raising taxes. They are pushing a plan which would authorize casinos in and around Chicago as well as allow slots at race tracks around the state. Quinn doesn’t think it’s a good idea and is, instead, urging the legislature to boost the state income tax by a percentage point to 4% of a taxpayer’s modified federal adjusted income (AGI). A similar plan has previously failed, garnering only 47 of the necessary 60 votes in the House to pass. This time, however, Quinn thinks he has the votes.
The increase wouldn’t be in a bubble, Quinn indicated. Like many of the other proposals floated around during the election, there would supposedly be an offset in the increase in the form of property tax reductions. That might have been enough of an incentive for taxpayers who don’t seem to be complaining… Overall, Illinois is considered a “below average” state in terms of tax burden.
