CHICAGO - There should be no tax increases to fix Illinois' ongoing budget mess, said 53 percent of a group of Democrats and Republicans asked in statewide survey Americans for Prosperity - Illinois released Wednesday.
And while Republican Governor Bruce Rauner has made it clear that he's willing to compromise with the Democrats and "increase revenue" (read: "hike taxes") if Democrats will deal on systemic business policy issues that affect workmen's compensation and unemployment taxes - among others - 66 percent said state spending should be cut rather than taxes hiked.
The results are from a poll taken late last week among 600 Illinois registered voters via landline and cell phones.
Eighty-one percent said Illinois was on the wrong track and 35 percent blame the Illinois General Assembly rather than Governor Rauner (26%).
"The results of this poll send a loud and clear message to Illinois lawmakers as they seek to address the budget impasse- focus on spending cuts and reducing the size of government, not more tax hikes," said AFP Illinois State Director David From.
"Democrat, Republican, and Independent voters overwhelmingly say they do no want another tax hike. Unfortunately, many of the draft proposals floated this week have included small spending cuts compared to large tax increases. That is not what Illinoisans of any party identification want their legislators to support."
The anti-tax mood among registered voters isn't just among Republicans, because among the 600 surveyed in AFP's poll, 28 percent self-identified as Republicans and 44 percent as Democrats. Another 25 percent chose not to identify with either major party.
And where would this odd mixture of voters like to see there most cuts to help close the budget shortfall? 53 percent want to see cuts in government employee pensions, 22 percent in public assistance programs, 6 percent in Medicaid funding and a mere 3 percent want cuts in education funding.
"Despite months of stories and protests designed to highlight the impact of budget cuts and demonstrate the need for higher taxes, these results clearly show that Illinoisans want less spending as the primary solution to the state’s budget problems," AFP-IL said in a statement.
"They overwhelmingly do not want higher taxes."
The AFP-IL survey is available for review HERE.
