Peoria Standard

Illinois House Republicans filed House Resolution 135, a move to oppose the tax hike that the Democrats are proposing.

This happened after House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch spoke about passing a graduated income tax on Illinois residents.

House Republicans showed their unity when every member signed up for the resolution.

The unanimous implication is that Republicans do not want individuals in Illinois to have a more difficult time operating their businesses with a tax hike seeing that they are already bearing the weight of a heavy tax

The co-sponsor of HR 135, State Rep. Norine Hammond, said that now is not the time to propose a tax hike.

She argued that compared to other states, Illinois has the highest combined state and local taxes so it’s not appropriate to propose a tax hike to people who have been struggling to make ends meet even before the pandemic struck.

She also criticized Illinois Democrats, saying that this tax proposal will give them authority to spend recklessly to the detriment of Illinois residents. She said, “This proposal is simply the next step in giving Illinois Democrats a blank check for uncontrolled spending for years to come. I remain strongly opposed to this tax hike proposal.”