State Senator Heather Steans Named April 2010 Tax Villain of the Month

CHICAGO– Jim Tobin, President of National Taxpayers United of Illinois (NTUI), today named State Senator Heather Steans the organization’s “Tax Villain of the Month” at a news conference in the Senators’ district, which is Chicago. Tobin distributed “wanted flyers” for the tax villain that summarized how Steans earned this infamous designation.

“Among other ‘crimes against taxpayers,’ Steans voted to increase state personal income taxes 67% and raise the state corporate income tax 33%, from 7.3 to 9.7%,” said Tobin. “And with property taxes at an all-time high, she voted to allow government school systems to raise property taxes even higher without a local property tax increase referendum.”

Analysis of Illinois revenues for the first nine months of fiscal year 2010 shows an increase of $8.6 billion from the same period in FY2009.

“All the talk about raising taxes is being sold under the guise of digging Illinois out of a budget crisis,” said Tobin. “But what politicians won’t tell you is that total state revenue has risen every year since we first started tracking it in 2003.”

“Governor Patrick Quinn’s (D) alleged ‘budget crisis’ is caused by outrageous government spending, the worst of which is the lavish, gold-plated benefits paid to retired government employees, including downstate and suburban public school teachers and administrators.”

“There is no need to raise the state income tax to bail out the state pension systems. If each government employee were required to contribute an additional 8% toward his or her pension and health care coverage, and $250 a month following their retirement, $50 billion of the $102 billion in unfunded state liabilities would be eliminated, which would wipe out nearly half of the unfunded state liabilities.”

Steans’ “crimes against the taxpayers” are summarized in her “Wanted” flyer.