Lake County Gazette

Rep. Sheri Jesiel (R-Winthrop Harbor) told the House that she had to trust her gut and vote against a revenue bill on Sunday.

“I have to stand with the taxpayers of the state and of my district and insist on systemic reform before I request one of them to pay one more dime in taxes of their diminishing paychecks,” Jesiel said. “It’s time to cut up the credit cards. It’s time to live within our means, and until we can do that — protect our hard-working taxpayers — [please] vote 'no.'”

The House passed Senate Bill 9 as a way to provide revenue to the ailing state budget via a 32 percent tax hike. If enacted, the proposal would permanently increase personal state income tax rates to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and corporate tax rates to 7 percent from 5.25 percent.

Jesiel said she has seen first-hand the effects of high tax rates:  Her district has had a hard time keeping jobs and people due to its proximity to Wisconsin to the north. Her time in Springfield has brought little hope of change for her constituents, she asserted.

“As long as I’ve been here, we’ve sped past one fiscal deadline after another with no progress,” Jesiel said. “Meanwhile, we haven’t broken our addiction to spending. How many bills did we see pass that would add millions if not billions of new spending to our budget?”

Illinois needs structural reform to help taxpayers, Jesiel said. 

“It’s … very clear that because there is minimal — if any — structural changes in our spending, it won’t be long before we are doing the same thing again: arguing for tax increases for the spending that we never learned to get under control,” she said.

Gov. Bruce Rauner opposes the bill as well.

 “I will veto Mike Madigan’s permanent 32 percent tax hike,” Rauner said in a press release. “Illinois families don’t deserve to have more of the hard-earned money taken from them when the legislature has done little to restore confidence in government or grow jobs. Illinois families deserve more jobs, property tax relief and term limits. But tonight they got more of the same.”

Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider said SB9 was not built out of bipartisanship nor “the product of negotiation and compromise focused on pro-growth, citizen-empowering reforms.” 

Fifteen House Republicans voted for the income tax increase: Steve Andersson (R-Geneva), Terri Bryant (R- Murphysboro), John Cavaletto (R-Salem), C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago), Norine Hammond (R-Macomb), David Harris (R-Arlington Heights), Chad Hays (R-Catlin), Charlie Meier (R-Highland), Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth), Reggie Phillips (R-Charleston), Robert Pritchard (R-Hinckley), Mike Unes (R- East Peoria), Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (R-Leland Grove) and David Reis (R-Ste. Marie).

SB9 passed 72-45 and is now in the Senate.