GOP rep: New budget shows ‘addiction’ to taxes

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois’ new budget for fiscal year 2027 protects working families from new taxes, but Republican state Rep. Blaine Wilhour says the governor can’t stop asking for more.

The governor touted investments in housing, education and health care in the $55.9 billion spending plan approved by the General Assembly on Monday.

“We made all of those people-first investments while maintaining our positive fiscal trajectory and protecting working families from paying new taxes,” Pritzker said.

The state’s latest revenue package includes Pritzker’s social media platform fee, which the governor suggested could generate $200 million for public education.

The legislature approved new taxes on digital advertising and digital assets, such as broker-involved cryptocurrency transactions, plus a new tax on fantasy sports and contests.

The 1,623-page revenue package also raises various environmental filing fees and raises the tax on retail tire sales from $2 to $2.50 per new or used tire.

Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said Pritzker already handed the people of Illinois $77 billion in tax increases and is now asking for more.

“That’s more from you, more from our customers, more from your employees, more from our local communities, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more!” Wilhour said on the House floor before the new revenue package was passed.

New limits on income tax carryover deductions are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue.

“When is it ever going to be enough? This isn’t governing, it’s an addiction. This state is addicted to spending money it doesn’t have. It’s addicted to creating programs it can’t afford. It’s addicted to making promises it can’t keep, and it’s addicted to coming back to the taxpayers constantly to clean up the mess,” Wilhour said.

Before the new budget passed, state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Hindsboro, listed in a social media post a total of 57 tax hikes and fees that have been imposed since Pritzker took office in 2019.

The list includes multiple listings for motor fuel tax increases that have been enacted since 2019, when the governor signed legislation to impose annual increases.

This year, the General Assembly postponed the gas tax inflator from July 1 to Jan. 1.

If Pritzker signs House Bill 111 and Senate Bill 3019, the new budget will take effect July 1.