- Published: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 07:13 PM
SPRINGFIELD – A plan that would end Illinois’ two-year budget impasse by bringing in additional state revenues and expanding a key tax credit benefiting working families passed the Senate this afternoon.
“It is completely irresponsible for anyone to let this situation continue another day,” State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights) said. “Every week that goes by without acting, Illinois digs itself into deeper and deeper into a financial hole that will eventually be impossible to dig out of. It’s past time to do something for the good of our state.”
Hutchinson is lead Senate sponsor of Senate Bill 9, which includes slight increases to the personal and corporate income tax, an expansion of Illinois’ sales tax to include certain services, the elimination of three corporate tax loopholes and the creation of a new tax credit for teachers who purchase classroom supplies.
Senate Bill 9 also doubles the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit for working families that has been credited with lifting millions above the poverty line since its creation in the 1980s. In addition, the plan lowers LLC filing fees and reinstates the Research and Development Tax Credit, Graphic Arts Exemption and the Manufacturing Purchase Exemption, all of which increases economic activity in the state.