Working families and employers in Illinois are going to suffer if the Democrats' "strong-armed passage" of a graduated-rate state income tax makes it through the House, a downstate Republican legislator warned in a recent press release.
Excising the state Constitution's flat-tax language would be "handing the Democrats in the General Assembly a blank check" for down-the-road tax hikes "anytime they want more to spend," Illinois Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) said in his announcement. "I will fight this assault on Illinois taxpayers in the House."
On May 1, Democrats in the state Senate used their supermajority to gain passage of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's graduated-rate state income tax in that chamber before sending it onto the state House. Not one Republican in the Senate voted for the measure.
Illinois state Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville)
| rephalbrook.com
Democrats in the state House have since voiced concerns about the package of bills sent by the Senate.
Halbrook has represented House District 102 since he was elected to the seat in November 2016. He represented House District 110 from April 2012 to 2015.
Illinois House District 102 encompasses all of Douglas, Moultrie and Shelby counties, and parts of Champaign, Edgar, Macon and Vermilion counties.
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