(The Center Square) – Democrats and Republicans have different ideas on how to increase tax revenue to spend in the annual Illinois state budget.
State Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest, joined the Illinois Revenue Alliance Wednesday to push for finding what the group called “progressive revenue.” Davis said it wouldn’t be general tax increases.
“Corporate loopholes are not taxes. They’re just creating a space where instead of the tax breaks that corporations get to operate, we’re shutting some of those down so that we can keep more of that money in our state coffers,” Davis said.
State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, said ending corporate loopholes helps workers.
“Our billionaires have all these loopholes to be able to make more money on the shoulders of us, on the shoulders of the working class,” Villa.
The group claims to have found $6 billion in such loopholes they could close, calling it “progressive revenue.”
Thursday, state Rep. Brad Stephens, R-Rosemont, said the state needs to be business friendly.
“Somebody’s going to make a decision on where they want to locate their business and if we become more and more business-unfriendly, it’s not going to be Illinois,” Stephens said.
State Rep. Kevin Schmidt, R-Millstadt, said the state needs to foster more business growth.
“When you create jobs, you’re going to create more tax revenue, so if we grow the state and grow the economy organically, we’ll bring in more taxes and it’s a win-win for everyone,” Schmidt said.
Republicans offered a package of proposals to do things like end taxes on tips, or to waive first-year business license fees. Other GOP proposals include tax credits for donating to scholarship programs and increasing education expense tax credits to $1,500, among other ideas.
