Repeal state sales tax hike

The law to raise the personal tax hike from 3 percent to 5 percent and the corporate tax from 4.8 percent to 7 percent was passed in a Lame Duck session of Illinois’s 96th General Assembly on January 12, 2011, without a single Republican vote, making it partisan legislation at its worst among lawmakers unable to curb their habitual and out-of-control outrageous spending.

Even so, Gov. Quinn had the gall to inform Republicans that they were not thinking realistically in requesting that last year’s tax hikes to be repealed. Have you forgotten, Gov. Quinn that during your November 2010 election bid you called for a smaller tax increase?

Will you please address these questions before you reject outright the sane appeal by Republicans to repeal the largest tax hike in the state’s history: 1. What have you and Democrat lawmakers in Springfield done to curb spending? 2. What have you and Democrat lawmakers done in Springfield to reform burgeoning state worker pensions and Medicaid benefits? 3. How have you and Democrat lawmakers spent the estimated $7 billion brought in by the tax hikes of last year? 4.If the tax hike did so well last year in adding to the coffers, why have you indicated that there is a need to borrow $800 million more in the near future?

The verdict is in from the Illinois Policy Institute about the income tax hike. It’s one of failure: 1) Spending grew, bills went unpaid and pension reform stalled, 2) Illinois’ unemployment problem worsened, 3) The tax hike made Illinois less competitive and forced businesses to leave the state.

The people of Illinois deserve better than being forced to feed a broken system. Illinois is already losing jobs at an alarming rate. A continuation of the 2011 income rate tax hike would only make things worse.

Nancy J. Thorner

Lake Bluff