Illinois State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) sees the fact that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is at the center of a “scheme-to-defraud” property tax probe as just another reason to oppose his progressive tax plan.
“These mixed messages we are getting from our governor are truly troubling,” Morrison said in a post to his website. “We have a governor under federal investigation, pushing for a tax increase, when he isn’t honestly paying his own taxes. Let’s take a step back and assess what we are really doing here, and not push this legislation through like the Democrats are continuing to do.”
Several media outlets have reported that Pritzker has formally been under investigation since last October on grounds he and family members ordered workers to remove all the toilets from one of their Gold Coast mansions as a way of saving at least $331,000 on their property tax bill. Following a subsequent investigation, Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard ultimately blasted Pritzker’s actions as a “scheme to defraud.”
Rep. Tom Morrison
Even before revelations of Pritzker’s legal issues became public, Morrison stood in staunch opposition to the governor's progressive tax plan that supporters insist will only mean more taxes for the state’s most wealthy. While Pritzker has said the revenues the state can expect to generate from the added taxes will be in the neighborhood of $3.4 billion, Morrison argues that nothing about the plan is guaranteed.
“This proposal has no assurances that these tax rates won’t be changed next year,” Morrison added. “We cannot keep increasing taxes, that hasn’t worked in the past, and it won’t work this time around either. It is hard to trust the governor as the federal investigation continues and it is especially hard to trust him with a proposal like this one.”
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