Sangamon Sun

J.B. Pritzker has advocated for returning the state income tax to 5 percent since before he began his gubernatorial campaign, the Illinois Republican Party said recently.

In an audio clip laid over a photo of Pritzker on YouTube, the Illinois Republican Party offers Priztker talking to what the GOP says is a group of Democratic supporters at a recent closed-door meeting.

“Let’s remind everybody, the tax used to be 5 percent, and he let it lapse down to 3 3/4 percent,” Pritzker says. “And that’s what started a lot of the problems that we’ve got in the state. So, if you just put it back that’s $5 billion dollars. That doesn’t get you everything you need, but it’s a good way toward, you know, toward getting real revenue in the state.”

Illinois GOP spokesperson Steven Yaffe said Pritzker made similar comments in support of increasing the state income tax at the City Club in 2015, calling the increases “a good place to begin.”

“Like a true machine politician, J.B. Pritzker mirrored the Madigan tax hike plan behind closed doors, before even announcing his campaign,” Yaffe said. “It's clear that Pritzker's loyalty belongs to Mike Madigan, and his plan for Illinois is higher taxes with no real reform.”