In response to the Senate Democrats’ budget package and legislation that would impose an income tax increase, State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) offered the following statement.

“With the best interests of Illinois taxpayers in mind, I could not in good conscience support the tax hike or unbalanced budget called for a vote today by the Senate Democrats. Simply put, this is not a balanced budget. Instead of passing reforms to get Illinois back on track and provide relief to its citizens, it relies on the taxpayers to bail out the state yet again. After making progress last week on crucial reforms, I was sorry that this was not coupled with job creating reforms—an urgent need for our fiscal health and economic growth. My hope is that when this proposal reaches the House, they will work in a bipartisan manner to include reforms to make jobs and build new revenue.”