Will County Gazette

A bill stuck in the rules committee would change the Use Tax Act and cap motor fuel taxes at 18 cents per gallon.

The legislation was first proposed by Rep. Mark Batinick and was backed by all the House Republicans, who all signed on as co-sponsors, the Illinois General Assembly reported.

"We have House Bill 5723, there's an extra 400 to 500 billion dollars in this budget because of the spike in gas taxes," Batnick told Will County Gazette. "That spike in gas taxes. That spike is disproportionately hurting middle-class and poor people."

Representative Batnick also talked about the struggles of rural people.

"As importantly, it's really disproportionately hurting rural people" Batnick said. "When we talk about the divide between urban and rural areas in the state this is an example of telling somebody that has to drive across the border for cheaper gas or whatever the situation is or lose jobs because of it that here's where we are not going to take an extra 2.2 cents from you. We know you have to drive 20 or 30 miles to work. They don't have subsidized public transportation. All this side is asking for regarding the gas tax is to not take the money that they weren't expecting anyway on the backs of the poor and especially rural poor. 400 to 500 billion dollars of the revenue that are coming in that’s extra is because we're paying way more in gas than we were a year ago and it is unfortunate that this body feels the need to hold on to that money and not take an extra 2.2 cents. It was an easy fix that was brought up on our side a long time ago. I was shocked that it wasn't passed in a bipartisan manner. That's extremely frustrating. I hope you guys understand when the people in rural areas get frustrated by the policies being dictated to them by Chicago, this is a real-world tangible example of where somebody has to spend as much as an hour or two of their wages just to get to their job."

House Bill 5723 was proposed on March 11, but it has remained in the rules committee, and Democrats never called the bill for debate on the floor, the assembly reported.