In 2011, the largest tax hike in state history passed with all Democratic votes and was sold as a temporary remedy for our disastrous budget problems.

The tax increase hiked rates for individuals by 67% and businesses by 30%.  While Illinois taxpayers saw their paychecks shrink, state government saw its revenue grow to record amounts.  But was this record influx of new revenue the answer to our ever growing deficit and debt?  Of course not, because it failed to address the root causes of fiscal mismanagement that has plagued our state for more than a decade. Read the rest of Rep. Sandack's Column in Reboot Illinois.

Rep. Ron Sandack represents the 81st district, serving Bolingbrook, Downers Grove, Darien, Lisle, Naperville, Westmont, and Woodridge.

Today, legislation that is part of transparency initiatives introduced earlier this year by Leader Tom Cross and Rep. Ron Sandack passed in the Illinois House of Representatives. House Bill 1555 will expand the current Illinois Transparency Portal (ITAP) to include all taxing bodies not just state organizations.

"Too much spending and too much borrowing are leading to higher property taxes for homeowners and are driving up the cost of doing business in Illinois", according to Sandack. "The taxpayers deserve to know what financial promises are being made in their names – especially if they are on the hook to pay for them."

 

Last week, House Republican Leader Tom Cross and State Representative Ron Sandack unveiled a comprehensive package of bills that aim to make state and local government more accountable to taxpayers.  We covered it here on the blog.

In this video, watch Leader Cross and Representative Sandack walk through their proposal.

Earlier today, State Representatives Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove) and Tom Cross (R-Oswego) unveiled a three-point set of new transparency initiatives today to make state and local government more accountable to taxpayers.

"The goal is to provide every property taxpayer with an annual itemized breakdown of the spending outlays they are billed for to support units of local government; including school districts, municipalities, library and park districts, community colleges and more."

You can read the entire release and details of the package of bills here on TomCross.com.