Lake County Gazette

Outgoing Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) worries how much more Illinois residents are expected to be able to take with continuous talks of increasing tax rates, business restrictions due to COVID-19 and uncertainty with corruption around every turn in the government.

“Illinois’ economy has reached a breaking point and Gov. J.B. Pritzker is still pushing to raise taxes,” McSweeney told the Lake County Gazette. “Businesses are suffering and families are being forced out of Illinois because of the endless tax hikes. Illinois families need a tax cut.”

As chairman of the Cut Illinois Taxes Now committee, McSweeney has been tackling the issue head-on.

Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to keep trying to raise taxes to 'fix' the surmounting level of debt in state | File Photo

“I’m proud to be a part of stopping Pritzker’s endless tax hikes,” McSweeney said. “I’ll always stay vigilant looking out for you and every Illinois family. Illinois families are in need of tax relief, but Pritzker keeps trying to raise our taxes. When will it end? Instead of raising taxes, I’m fighting to cut property taxes levies and adopt real public employee pension reform.”

McSweeney has long been an outspoken critic of what he sees as some of the governor’s most outlandish policies. He was instrumental in Springfield in leading the fight against the governor's progressive tax, which was rejected at the ballot box last month.

“I’m leading the fight against the progressive income tax because Illinois taxes are too high,” McSweeney told the Lake County Gazette. “The progressive tax is a code phrase for a massive hike.”

While Pritzker presented the plan as one that would help Illinois' financial struggles by reducing property taxes, addressing pension debt and generating additional funding for a number of state programs, McSweeney says he always saw it differently.

“The progressive income tax, the linchpin of the Pritzker plan, wouldn’t hurt the wealthy a lot, they easily can move out of Illinois,” McSweeney 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.”