Illinois Republican Party

State House GOP chief douses tax increase
3/5/2010

By Dave McKinney - Chicago Sun-Times

The top House Republican leader Thursday shoved the possibility of an income-tax increase this spring further into the legislative deep freeze, accusing ruling Democrats of burying GOP efforts to "fundamentally change" the state's spending practices.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) embraced a series of budgetary reforms put forth by the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, including requiring a supermajority for tax hikes, providing a weeklong review of a budget before a vote and making it harder for legislative leaders to deny floor votes by bottling up bills.

"We're not going to have any discussion about revenue until we look at all these approaches that I've talked about," Cross said.

The House GOP leader's comments came less than a week before Gov. Quinn is scheduled to lay out his plan to dig the state out of a $12.8 billion budget deficit. The governor is widely expected to renew his call for a state income tax increase.

Even though House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) holds a 70-48 majority in the House, he has insisted that House Republicans sign on to a tax increase if it is to pass. Madigan has characterized the GOP as "do-nothing dropouts" for refusing to do so and for trying to use a tax hike as a wedge issue in the fall elections.

SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times

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