Republican state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) thinks Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his growing number of Democratic supporters would be wise to consider history before moving forward with their idea of a graduated income tax.
“Higher tax increases have never gone the way the side proposing them have advertised them,” Ugaste told Kane County Reporter. “I don’t expect this time to be any different.”
The plan Pritzker has been touting since his days as a candidate would see about 20,000 households with incomes of between $250,000 and $1 million hit with a tax that’s projected to bring somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.4 billion in new annual revenues. The tax is also being sold as one that will actually lower the current flat tax rate of 4.95 percent for those earning less than $250,000 a year, or roughly 97 percent of the state's population.
Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva)
Ugaste, who won his seat in the 65th District in November with 52 percent of the vote, is not sold on the idea.
“It strikes me as just another tax increase,” he said. “There’s nothing that indicates any hard numbers will be placed in the state constitution so we know exactly what we’re getting. Besides, nothing that’s been talked about comes close to matching all the spending Gov. Pritzker has outlined.”
To become law, Pritzker’s plan would require a constitutional amendment backed by three-fifths of the General Assembly and 60 percent of voters in November 2020.
Ugaste thinks there’s an easier and safer way to get the state back on track.
“We need to address pension reforms and structural problems within the system,” he said. “Greater efficiency in government is what’s needed and that starts with things like reforms to workmen’s compensation and pensions.”
The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.
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