Pritzker's Budget Plan Does Not Increase Taxes On Families, But Business Owners Say They Will Be Hit Hard
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After Gov. JB Pritzker gave his state of the state address Wednesday, it is becoming more clear how the state plans to dig itself out of a massive budget hole caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the governor is not going to hike personal income taxes, he is going after businesses.
Business owners say they are already hurting. The business community is lashing out, saying while most families may not feel a punch of this proposal passes, they will.
"I started with the premise that hardworking families should not have to pay more when they're stretched the most thin," Pritzker said.
That is the foundation for Pritzker's 2022 budget proposal. He built from there.
"I want middle class Illinoisans to pay lower income taxes, not higher, so this budget does not propose an across the board tax increase," he said.
Without that, Pritzker said he has found a way to balance next year's budget despite the hit taken by COVID-19 and despite dire warnings last fall that a major tax hike would be necessary if his graduated income tax proposal failed to pass, which it did.
"It reflects $400 million in additional cuts to appropriations, a hiring freeze, flat operational spending, full required pension payments, and the closure of unaffordable corporate loopholes," Pritzker said.
It is all, he said, for a savings of $1.8 billion over the last budget, except most of that -- $932 million -- will come from those so-called corporate tax loopholes, which include capping certain corporate deductions and eliminating some exemptions. These are moves many business leaders say will further cripple the already struggling business community.
While most state department budgets will remain flat, Pritzker wants to give the struggling Illinois Department of Employment Security, which handles unemployment benefits, another $60 million now and another $73 million next year.
"It builds upon work we have already done this year and will support new call center positions throughout the state, help run the newly created federal unemployment programs, and upgrade the technology to more efficiently get this critical work done," he said.
This comes after CBS 2 has reported for almost a year on the chronic problems plaguing the agency.
It is up to state lawmakers to discuss, debate and ultimately pass the budget, which will take place over the next several months.