(The Center Square) – Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle are talking about taxes ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget address to the General Assembly on Wednesday.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, and Deputy Leader Sue Rezin, R-Morris, held a press conference at the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday.
Curran said Pritzker has increased spending by 40% since taking office while the state’s gross domestic product has lagged behind national GDP growth.
“This growth in government spending without corresponding economic growth can only be fueled by one thing: tax increases,” Curran said.
Curran said, if the governor is serious about protecting Illinois’ fiscal solvency, he would start by making the difficult decisions to constrain state spending, reduce taxes and improve economic opportunities by inviting capital investment.
Rezin said Democrats are doubling down on taxes instead of addressing the state’s spending problem.
“Illinois cannot afford to experiment with policies that risk driving taxpayers, entrepreneurs and employers out of the state, because when taxpayers leave, they take their income, they take jobs, they take investment and the stability with them,” Rezin said.
State Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, said Pritzker has a difficult challenge ahead of him.
“But we’re going to stand with the governor in making sure that we fight back against the egregious cuts from the federal government to the greatest extent possible,” Preston told The Center Square.
Preston said he would wait like everyone else to hear what the governor has to say.
“What I hope to hear is that he focuses on affordability and that my colleagues and I all have been mandated by our constituents to deal with affordability, particularly the property taxes,” Preston said.
Following his 2025 State of the State speech, the governor’s office said Pritzker unveiled his seventh balanced budget centered around fiscal responsibility and affordability.
The spending plan for fiscal year 2026 included higher taxes on telecommunications, tobacco products, sports wagering and long-term rentals, along with corporate income tax rule changes.
State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said the budget is the biggest piece of his yearly schedule in Springfield.
“I’ll be spending a lot of time doing that, only to make sure that once again we deliver a balanced budget for the people of Illinois that also responds to some of the things going on in Washington,” Buckner told The Center Square.
State Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Moline said the governor withheld $53 million in property tax relief last year.
“And yet, he can find money in other places to fund health care for illegals and abortion care and things that do nothing to help the average family pay their electric bill, pay their grocery bill and pay their property taxes,” Hammond told The Center Square.
Hammond said she expects Pritzker to blame the Trump administration for Illinois’ financial problems.
The current Illinois budget is a state record-high $55.2 billion. The 2019 state budget was $39 billion.
The state’s gas tax doubled in 2019 with yearly increases since based on the consumer price index. Recent budgets have also included hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax increases, higher taxes on gambling and other added fees.
Greg Bishop contributed to this story.
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