Chambana Sun

State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) is clearly on record as to how and why he opposes Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax proposal.

“If the specific tax rates are not clearly spelled out in the constitutional amendment, all we would be doing is giving politicians a blank check to alter rates and brackets however they see fit from year to year,” Bennett recently posted on his website. “I will be voting no.”

Bennett dismisses talk that the Democrats' plan will actually reduce taxes for the majority of state residents as just that, particularly given the sparse details provided thus far by Pritzker and company about how it will work.

While supporters have touted the plan as a step toward finally putting the state’s finances in order by reducing property taxes, addressing pension debt and generating more overall resources, the government watchdog website Wirepoints has blasted the proposal as more trickery designed to finesse taxpayers out of more of their hard-earned earnings.

The website is on record in pegging the state’s “true hole” at $19 million, or more than six times higher than the $3.2 billion debt estimate offered up by Pritzker and his supporters.

Bennett fears things could get worse before they could get better, especially if the graduated income tax comes to be.

“Springfield politicians have raised income taxes twice in the last eight years, and yet we are still billions of dollars in debt,” he added on his website. “Illinois families already pay the highest state and local taxes in the nation, and now some politicians want us to trust them again with a blank check.”