Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison | Cook County
Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison | Cook County
Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison is bashing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2019 gas hike in the wake of exorbitant gas prices amid the Ukraine invasion.
“It’s the same story every time the state government raises taxes," Morrison, who also serves as Cook County Republican Party chairman, told Chicago City Wire. "They claim the state lacks the revenues to administer programs, services, and cover general costs. Revenue is not the problem in Illinois. Spending and fiscal mismanagement has been the long-term problem for our state government. Governor Pritzker came into office and has continued the ‘Tax and Spend’ philosophy which has crippled our state’s finances.”
The commissioner blamed Pritzker for the massive increase.
“The governor doubled the state’s gas tax ‘to fund a $45 billion infrastructure bill.’ Another monstrosity thrown onto the backs of Illinois taxpayers," Morrison said. "When you look deeper into these massive legislative bills, you’ll find plenty of non-priority spending added in to fatten the bill so the special interests can feed at the proverbial government trough.”
Illinois has the second-highest gas tax in the country. Pritzker said earlier this month that his administration is "looking at ways we can reduce the gas tax across the State of Illinois." Back in February Pritzker had already suggested a freeze, but has not acted on the proposal.
“I have publicly called for the suspension of the state’s gasoline tax," Morrison said. "Current costs at the pump combined with the excessive tax that Governor Pritzker passed, left us with gas tax hikes in 2020, 2021—and soon the July 2022 tax increase will kick in. I’ve called on residents to call their state reps and senators and tell them to suspend the gas tax.”
According to the Illinois Policy, Illinoisans pay 77.96 cents per gallon for taxes alone, federal and state taxes combined. Across the border to the west, Missouri pays the second-lowest gas tax. In Illinois, a gallon of gas costs 42 cents more than Missouri due to differing tax policies.
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