Mussman Fights to Protect Illinois Taxpayers, Pushes for Fiscal Responsibility During Legislative Session

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – This session, state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, fought to provide tax relief for Illinois families, all while helping to pass measures that push for more fiscal responsibility, including the bipartisan, balanced budget that reduces government waste.

“I refuse to allow politicians in Washington to burden Illinois families with their unfair tax plan that puts the ultra-wealthy and big corporations above the hard-working men and women of this state,” said Mussman. “Though more work remains to be done, I will continue working to protect Illinois’ families from tax plans that make it difficult to sustain a quality of life in our state.”

This session, Mussman was a chief co-sponsor of House Bill 4237, which allows taxpayers to contribute to the Illinois Education Excellence Fund – a fund designated for public education expenses, including early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, higher education and adult education. Taxpayers could then deduct contributions from their federal income taxes, providing them with savings on their tax bills.

“Many of Illinois’ middle-class families pay a large share of their income in taxes because millionaires and billionaires are not paying their fair share; we can do more to change our current system to save working families from over taxation,” Mussman said. “Implementing a fair tax system is an opportunity to cut taxes for more than 90 percent of taxpayers and put money back into the pockets of middle-class families, and I will continue to support measures that reduce the tax burden for families throughout Illinois.”

Mussman supported House Resolution 1025, which calls for the implementation of a progressive income tax. Currently, Illinois is one of only four states that constitutionally requires middle-class families to pay the same rate as millionaires and billionaires. A fair tax would cut taxes for more than 90 percent of taxpayers, put money back into the pockets of Illinois families and help to stimulate the local economy, all while driving local business growth and creating jobs.

Mussman also supported the bipartisan, balanced budget that funds essential services that Illinois families rely on, such as child care, senior care and breast and cervical cancer screenings for low-income women. After the two-year budget stalemate caused by Gov. Rauner’s unwillingness to compromise, the state’s social service infrastructure and economy were severely damaged. The budget that Mussman supported for the upcoming fiscal year reduces government waste while funding essential services, but also creates a mechanism to pay down the backlog of bills.

“This session, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass a budget that protects the services that hard-working people throughout the entire state depend on every day,” said Mussman. “While there is still much more work that needs to be done to repair the fiscal damage that has been done to the state, this is an important step that we had to take together.”