Will County Gazette

Illinois state Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) argues that there is no possible way Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax plan can do the things being promised.

“The numbers just don’t add up based on the fact they don’t account for things like the minimum wage increase and other direct cost,” Batinick told Will County Gazette of the graduated tax. “Then, there are also indirect expenses not figured in and we keep introducing and passing bills that spend more money. I haven’t seen any proposals to cut property taxes or that call for cuts to any other pro-growth plans.”

Batinick is not alone in voicing his opposition to the plan being billed by supporters as simply a tax that would assure the state’s most affluent pay more of their fair share. Government watchdog website Wirepoints recently blasted the proposal as a deceitful plan engineered to fleece taxpayers out of more of their hard-fought earnings.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker

The website takes particular exception with Democrats' claims that it will ultimately aid the state by lowering property taxes, addressing pension debt and generating greater funding for a number of other programs. In addition, Wirepoints pegs the state’s “true hole” at as high as $19 billion, or more than six times greater than the debt estimate given by Pritzker and his supporters.

Batinick added that he’s convinced Republicans' resistance will not wane anytime soon and the party will avoid a repeat of 2017, when several GOP members caved under pressure by House Speaker Mike Madigan to cast votes in favor of the largest income tax increase in state history.

“It’s like they say, 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,'” he said. “Besides that, a lot of the reps we had back then are no longer here and we’re as committed as I think we’ve ever been.”