GOP: Graduated tax ‘cash grab’ will stifle pandemic recovery

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Republicans are demanding a vote in the General Assembly on removing from the fall ballot a proposed graduated income tax structure, saying the state’s pandemic-pillaged economy can’t sustain higher taxes.

House Minority Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady said Monday that the special session this week in Springfield should consider dumping the plan to alter the state Constitution and discard the current flat-rate income tax. Right now, it’s up to voters.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls his proposal a “fair tax.” Durkin says it’s a “cash grab” that will decimate the economy as it recovers from COVID-19.