Illinois lawmakers approve 32% income tax hike
(Chris Potter / Flickr)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) --Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says he will veto an income-tax increase that the House has approved.
The House voted 72-45 Sunday to increase the personal income tax rate by 32 percent. It's designed to start repairing the fiscal calamity caused by the nation's longest budget stalemate since the Great Depression.
Rauner issued a statement that decried "the largest tax hike in history and continue out of balance budgets with no real reform." The first-term governor insists on business-friendly changes and a statewide property tax freeze in return for agreement on a budget.
The tax increase goes back to the Senate for concurrence.
The House followed the tax bill with approval of an annual spending plan.
The vote was 81-34 for a budget that spends about $36 billion. Democrats point out that it's about $800 million less than what Rauner proposed last winter.