Reps. Peter Breen, Chuck Wheeler
Illinois state Reps. Peter Breen and Chuck Wheeler introduce their Illinois Tax Reform plan at a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018.
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State Rep. Peter Breen on Tuesday introduced a three-part tax reform plan that he says is in response to Illinois' poor business climate and sluggish growth. The proposals also are meant to help offset the federal tax reform plan's $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, he said.
One of three bills Breen filed would expand Illinois' 529 college savings plans to allow parents to use those investments for K-12 education. Another would allow individuals who are in business for themselves to not have to pay unemployment insurance. The third measure would allow tax credits for people who make donations to public school foundations.
Breen, R-Lombard, said the public education tax credit bill would bring more than $1 billion in federal money back to Illinois. Critics of other measures that propose letting taxpayers receive credits for donating to government say such moves don't hold government accountable.
Rep. Keith Wheeler, who attended a Tuesday news conference in support of Breen's measures, said counties in his district, including Kendall, are being hit hard by high property taxes and they need relief.
"We've got to find a better balance," Wheeler, R-Oswego, said, adding that Republicans have been trying for years to get reforms, but "until we actually get something done with that, we have to do something else in the meantime to protect these taxpayers."
Breen called his three-part tax reform plan "a self-defense measure if nothing else. .... We're in an emergency situation, so anything we can do to protect taxpayers, we should be doing."
Lawmakers have to also cut spending to reduce taxpayers' overall burden, Breen said. Despite a $5 billion income tax increase last year, the state's current fiscal budget is nearly $2 billion out of whack.
"We'll come back for the press conference on my educational administrator cost limitation bill, which is still in drafting," he said. "We will continue to stand for it and fight for it."