Lake County Gazette

With Election Day just a few weeks away, state Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) warns voters they have to rise now to take a stand against Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his progressive income tax hike.

“Illinois' economy has reached a breaking point, but Pritzker still wants to raise taxes with his progressive tax hike,” he said. “This is outrageous.”

McSweeney’s ire was recently raised anew by Pritzker declaring he is not worried that the chances of voters passing the tax he insists will only mean higher rates for the state’s most affluent residents have been diminished by the ComEd corruption scandal now plaguing Springfield and longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Earlier this month, federal authorities slapped the utility giant with a $200 million fine for its role in a pay-for-play scheme in which payments were funneled to close Madigan associates as a way of currying favor with him. Though Madigan has not been criminally charged, a growing number of Democrat lawmakers have theorized if he stays in power it could harm the prospects for the tax Pritzker has been pushing since his days as a candidate.

McSweeney feels that’s just as it should be.

“Illinois residents already have the highest tax burden of any state,” he added. “That’s why I’m fighting to stop Pritzker’s tax hike.”

Holding his own against the so-called "fair tax" comes as nothing new for McSweeney, who has blasted it as just “code phrase” for a massive hike. If the tax ever becomes law, McSweeney argues there will be no shortage of victims.

“The progressive income tax, the linchpin of the Pritzker plan, wouldn’t hurt the wealthy a lot – they easily can move out of Illinois,” he recently wrote in an op-ed for Illinois News Network. “It would harm the middle class. There is a reason we do not see a tax rate schedule from those supporting the progressive income tax. They do not want voters to see exactly who the progressive income tax will affect.”