McSweeney files bill to repeal Illinois House’s permanent income tax hike

The Illinois House on July 2 passed Senate Bill 9, which includes a 32 percent income tax hike. State Rep. David McSweeney filed a bill that would repeal that permanent tax hike should it become law.

One day after his chamber passed a 32 percent income tax hike on Illinoisans, state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, filed a bill that would repeal that tax hike should it become law.

The House passed Senate Bill 9 July 2. Fifteen Republicans voted in favor of SB 9, which increases the personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and hikes the corporate income tax to 7 percent from 5.25 percent. McSweeney’s bill would repeal both of these tax hikes if SB 9 becomes law, reinstating Illinois’ individual income tax rate of 3.75 percent and corporate rate of 5.25 percent. The repeal bill would also restore the tax rates’ 2025 sunset dates, when the individual rate was set to drop to 3.25 percent, and the corporate rate was scheduled to drop to 4.8 percent.

The House’s budget package is devoid of structural spending reforms. And Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he will veto it if it passes the Senate. However, lawmakers could override that veto with a three-fifths majority in the House and Senate.

Last time Illinois lawmakers inflicted tax hikes without reforms was a disaster.

The 2011 temporary tax hikes brought in $32 billion in extra tax revenue, but the state’s unpaid bill backlog only declined by $1.3 billion (to $6.6 billion from $7.9 billion), and pension debt rose by $25 billion.

Meanwhile, Illinoisans suffered under one of the worst economic recoveries in the nation. The Land of Lincoln is now home to worst personal income growth of any state, the highest black unemployment rate of any state and record-breaking out-migration.

Rather than rely on massive tax hikes to bail out poor policy choices, state lawmakers should opt for tough medicine on spending that’s been absent for too long.