From State Rep. Dan Ugaste:
Pritzker’s concern for Indiana taxpayers ignores Illinois families taxed to the max
With the Chicago Bears eyeing a possible move to Indiana, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker weighed in about his concern for the cost to Indiana taxpayers.
Missing from Pritzker’s comments was any concern for the Illinois families paying the billions of dollars in tax hikes imposed on them during Pritzker’s time in office.
State Representative Norine Hammond criticized Pritzker’s newfound concern for the taxpayers of neighboring Indiana and highlighted Pritzker’s tax-and-spend record in Illinois.
Governor JB Pritzker’s record on taxes and affordability speaks for itself:
- Proposed and personally funded the failed 2020 graduated income tax scheme.
- Raised taxes and spending by $16 billion, a 40% increase on Pritzker’s watch.
- Doubled the gas tax and tied future increases to inflation.
- Approved an $8 billion energy rate hike to subsidize a green energy giveaway.
- Signed off on a mass transit bailout for Chicago, allowed toll hikes of almost 60% and higher sales taxes, essentially spending $2.5 billion to fill a deficit of $235 million this year.“
“Illinois keeps losing businesses, residents, and opportunity because the Governor and Democrat supermajorities keep making it more and more expensive to live and do business in Illinois,” according to Rep. Ugaste.
“We need to stop looking for other people and places to blame and work on solving the problems we can control in Illinois so life here is more affordable.”
| Indiana passes Bears stadium bill while Illinois crawls forward |
| The state of Indiana has enacted what could be a groundbreaking infrastructure bill to enable the Chicago Bears to move from Soldier Field to Hammond, Indiana. Senate Bill 27, which was signed into law last week, creates a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to potentially host the Bears. The Authority would collect tax money and contributions from a defined territory within Northwest Indiana, build and own the stadium, and grant a long-term lease to the NFL football franchise on terms that would be highly favorable to the Bears and their ownership. The Indiana law parallels many features of the stadium authorities currently in operation in Kansas for the Kansas City Chiefs and in Tennessee for the Tennessee Titans. In both states, public authorities are deeply engaged in the planning and construction of state-of-the-art NFL football stadiums that are meant to be profitably enjoyed by team owners. |
While Indiana moved forward last week, action in Illinois to retain the Chicago Bears crawled along. In a lengthy and sometimes contentious debate in the Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee, lawmakers considered legislation that could potentially be used to build a new football stadium in Illinois.
However, many Illinois Democrat lawmakers – whose votes would be necessary to pass the bill – expressed continued feelings of resentment about the use of Illinois law to provide property tax breaks to a privately-owned NFL team, the prospect of moving the team out of Chicago’s historic Soldier Field, and the alleged lack of respect shown by the Bears to various constituencies. In sharp contrast to successful legislative action in Indiana, the Bears-in-Illinois bill did not advance to a floor vote in the Illinois House last week.
Rep. Ugaste: While We Want the Bears to Stay, We Must Provide Property Tax Relief for All Illinoisans!
Last week, Representative Dan Ugaste addressed the problem the Bears are facing, as well as the crippling property tax burden the hard-working residents of our state face.
And while the Governor and Democrat leaders continue to meet with the Bears to keep them from moving to Indiana, where is the meeting for homeowners and business owners in Illinois?
Property tax relief and reforms must be for all, and we must not pass up the opportunity to address this issue now!
