Illinois Governor Pritzker angry over Fair Tax rejection

Illinois' Governor says budget cuts are coming, and they will be "painful."
Gov. Pritzker denounces "billionaires" he says lied to the public about his Fair Tax Amendment.
Photo credit Scott P. Yates

SPRINGFIELD, IL (KMOX) - "There will be cuts, and they will be painful." That's what Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday about failure of his Fair Tax Amendment in Tuesday's election.

Pritzker says the voters were lied to by billionaires who are "more than happy to hurt our public schools, shake the foundations of our cities and diminish our state."

The Democrat's plan was for a progressive income tax to gradually increase taxes on those making $250,000 and above. Pritzker said he doesn't want to raise anybody's taxes, but it's a better option than cutting services to address what he calls the state's structural budget deficit.

Governor Pritzker plans to meet with legislative leaders to plot a path forward, but assured cuts will have to be part of it.

Throughout the comments about the Fair Tax proposal defeat, he continued to say opponents lied to the voter to get them to defeat it. The Fair Tax Amendment needed at least 60% approval as a tax increase, but received 55% "no" votes.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Scott P. Yates