Receiving glowing praise for their bi-partisanship, the leaders of the Illinois Senate just passed a massive tax increase on a wide range of ordinary products that you might buy on your next trip to the grocery store. Everything from candy to toothpaste, taxes will increase to 6.25%*.

If you’re among those of us who drive, get ready to shell out more for the privilege. License fees are going up.

They also allowed the state to lease out the Illinois Lottery so a private middle management company can take a cut (that can’t be good for jackpots!) and expanded gambling to include video poker machines, turning every bar and roadhouse into a gambler’s paradise.

The spending increases were introduced to the public and passed with blinding speed. The spending measures were also buried in a totally unrelated bills, so an enterprising citizen like you might not be able to find it without a little help. Here’s where you can find info on your new taxes:

HB 255 – Senate Amendment 1 – the video gaming and tax/fee hike bill
HB 312 – Senate Amendment 2 – this is what they’re going to spend your money on

Again, these bills had broad support of Republicans and Democrats. So remember, next time you see your state senator, be sure to say thank you.

* corrected

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.