Tax pledge brings out sparks in GOP Gov. race

Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna demanded his opponents in the governor's race sign an anti-tax pledge Monday, sidestepping that a major supporter and top House GOP leader hasn't even done so.

"I challenge my opponents to sign this pledge and make a commitment to the hardworking men and women of this state that they will not raise taxes," McKenna said.

But House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego - who arguably has more power over the state budget than any GOP primary candidate today - hasn't signed the pledge authored by Americans for Tax Reform. Cross is a major McKenna supporter.

McKenna spokesman Lance Trover said Cross doesn't need to prove himself by signing a pledge because he has opposed tax hikes leading the minority party in the House. Cross spokeswoman Vicki Crawford said the top lawmaker "has made a practice of not signing pledges."

"For Tom it is more about actions and not words," she said.

Two candidates in the GOP race have not signed the anti-tax pledge in the race for governor: state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale and former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan of Elmhurst.

Both say they oppose tax increases, but they have left open the possibility of supporting one down the road should severe budget cuts not work. The state is facing a budget shortfall of $11 billion, or about 40 percent.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing a 50 percent increase in the state income tax rate.

Dillard signed the anti-tax pledge as a state senator, but that didn't stop him from voting for a half-cent sales tax increase to bail out Metra, Pace and the CTA and fund other services in the collar counties.

In response to the anti-tax pledge demand, Dillard invoked his experience as a chief of staff to Gov. Jim Edgar in the 1990s and said he has never voted for "a general tax increase."

Dillard said raising taxes in the current economy "would only make the situation worse."

Ryan, meanwhile, called the anti-tax group founded by conservative Grover Norquist as "another special interest."

"I'm an independent Republican," the two-term attorney general and former DuPage County state's attorney said. "I don't have to sign some phony pledge."

Ryan said he is "committed to not raising taxes, especially during this recession."

Meanwhile, Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski was endorsed Monday by the National Taxpayers United of Illinois run by Jim Tobin.

The other candidates in the race, who have all signed the pledge, are state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, Chicago conservative commentator Dan Proft and DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville.