Tick Tock: Two Weeks Since Pritzker Said He’d “Soon” Release Tax Returns

As Pritzker debuts ad about taxes and makes the list of richest Americans, he’s still keeping Illinoisans in the dark on his own taxes

Days ago, Democrat candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker made the list of richest Americans. Forbes rated Pritzker, whose personal wealth totals $3.4 billion, the 219th richest American.

Now, Politico Illinois Playbook is reporting that J.B. Pritzker released a new campaign ad calling for a progressive income tax. In the ad, Pritzker says that increasing taxes on the wealthiest would make our tax system “fair,” but Illinoisans still don’t know how much Pritzker himself pays in taxes.

This past April, Pritzker pledged to release his tax returns, but so far, he has failed to do so. A clock on Daniel Biss’ campaign website says 200 days have elapsed since Pritzker first made that pledge.

Although Pritzker pledged two weeks ago that he’d “soon” let voters know how much he pays in taxes, he still refuses to release his returns.

J.B. Pritzker’s hypocrisy on this issue is stunning – as he continues his calls to make the wealthiest pay more in taxes, Pritzker, one of our nation’s wealthiest individuals, continues to hide his own income taxes from the public, even as he orchestrates schemes to cut his own property tax bill.

Illinoisans should be worried if a politician like Pritzker is able to turn the Governor’s Mansion into “A Nightmare On Astor Street.”

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ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider Statement on Mike Madigan’s Permanent 32% Tax Hike

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement after the Illinois House of Representatives passed Speaker Mike Madigan’s permanent 32% tax hike without reforms:

“Today, Springfield politicians led by Speaker Mike Madigan voted to permanently raise taxes by 32% on the hard-working families of Illinois without passing property tax relief for homeowners, job-creating reforms, or term limits on politicians.

“Make no mistake about it – this historic vote was not the product of negotiation and compromise focused on pro-growth, citizen-empowering reforms. Last night, Madigan broke away from good faith budget negotiations with the intent of pushing his own plan to protect the broken status quo. Today, Madigan then introduced his massive 1,241-page tax-and-spend plan and gave lawmakers only hours to read, debate, and vote on the package.

“This 32% permanent tax increase, the largest in Illinois’ history, was the product of insider deal-making between special interests and entrenched politicians. Next year, voters will hold those politicians accountable for choosing Madigan over the people of Illinois.

“Now more than ever, Republicans across Illinois are standing with Governor Rauner and redoubling our efforts to end Madigan’s corrupt status quo.”