McCarter
Haine
As Illinois faces a staggering $13 billion deficit, state senators from the Metro-East are split over an income tax increase that could come up for vote by early next week.
Sen. William Haine (D-Alton) said he did not know yet whether he would support raising the individual income tax rate above its current 3 percent level.
Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon), on the other hand, said he would not vote for an income tax increase.
He said that his caucus was unified in its opposition.
McCarter also said he would not "sign off" on a borrowing plan without a "prudent" repayment plan. Undisciplined spending, he said, has "gotten us to be tempted to borrow."
In the meantime, Haine said he would "wait and see" what is contained in a proposal being worked out by Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic leaders.
Quinn, who campaigned on a pledge to raise taxes to fix the state budget, has been working with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton on a pact that would raise the income tax rate to as much as 5 percent, according to various media reports. Another proposal would raise the rate by a half percent to 3.5 percent.
Haine acknowledged that an income tax increase would be immensely unpopular with some of his constituents.