Rep. John D’Amico (D-Chicago) had the chance to keep Illinoisans from suffering any more than they already do, but he ignored it, Amanda Biela said in a press release recently.
“Rep. John D’Amico claimed that, ‘It is unacceptable to let the people of the state of Illinois suffer another year due to the lack of a state budget,’” Biela said in the statement. “Yet by voting in favor of Senate Bill 9 with its permanent 32 percent income tax increase and additional business tax increase, D’Amico has doomed the citizens of Illinois to suffer at an even greater level.”
Biela, a Republican, has announced her plans to run for D'Amico's 15th House District seat in 2018.
Rep. John D’Amico (D-Chicago)
| Rep. John D’Amico General Assembly Biography
Senate Bill 9 permanently increases the state personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and the corporate tax rate to 7 percent from 5.25, both jumps of 32 percent. The take hike passed the House with 72 votes – 71 were needed to reach the required three-fifths majority of a special session.
The Illinois Policy Institute has attacked the measure for a lack of significant reforms that would prevent more government spending, such as changes to property taxes, pension costs, collective bargaining requirements or Medicaid spending.
“Illinoisans are looking for real tax relief,” Biela said in her statement. “They pay some of the highest taxes (property, income, sales, business) in the nation, but because of political charlatans like D’Amico and his boss, (House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), everyday folks get stuck with more of the bill with less and less to show for it. It’s no wonder that more people are looking to leave the state and escape to greener economic pastures."
The Chicago Tribune reported that Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the bill, but the veto has been overturned in the House and Senate.
Biela had urged D'Amico to rethink his vote.
“Illinois families simply cannot afford to see their taxes go up by hundreds into the thousands of dollars," she said in the press release. "That is suffering. Small incorporated businesses may not be able to make payroll or be forced to let go employees because of the new tax increase. That is suffering. Seeing your standard of living decrease because the state is incapable of managing its finances and unwilling to make spending sacrifices. That is suffering. Rep. D’Amico doesn’t even begin to understand the meaning of suffering."
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