Dupage Policy Journal

For freshman Illinois state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton), the recently enacted new state gas tax is really no better or worse than every other tax increase she's seen since she arrived in Springfield last January.

“I would never vote for any increase in any kind of tax,” Grant told the DuPage Policy Journal. “I think taxpayers are already being forced to carry enough of the burden.”

With the state gas tax having doubled to 38 cents as of July 1, along with vehicle registration fees increasing by roughly 33 percent to $148 to generate funds for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $45 billion infrastructure plan, Grant sees the assault on taxpayers mounting rather than abating.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | twitter.com/jbpritzker

“There are a lot of things delivered here in the state, including flowers, food, pizza and Ubers,” she said.  “I think that cost of a higher gas tax will be passed on to customers. Whatever you want delivered to your house, it will have to be absorbed somehow.”

Grant said it all adds up to being a serious tax burden on the state’s middle class, something Pritzker has long vowed would not be the case under his administration.

“It’s absolutely a tax on middle-class families,” Grant said.

While the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) projects that the average family can expect to pay more than $100 in added gasoline costs this year, those higher fees are hardly the only ones they face. Taxes and fees are also slated to rise on items ranging from cigarettes and e-cigarettes to parking and real-estate transfers. In addition, taxes from new casinos and legalized sports betting are also set to kick in.

With voters slated to vote on Pritzker’s proposed progressive tax plan in 2020, IPI posits that all the promised income tax savings the governor has promised have already been more than offset by tax and fee increases.