SPRINGFIELD — After once again blaming Washington for Illinois’ fiscal failures, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch says Democrats in the House want to focus on lowering the cost of living, including “gas, groceries, rent, mortgages,” and are reviewing legislation that “helps bring costs down.”
The surprising announcement was welcome news to Illinois House Republicans because they have already introduced real proposals to do exactly that.
Deputy Minority Leader Ryan Spain of Peoria announced he has filed HB 5738 to suspend the state sales tax on gasoline.
Spain went on to say Illinois can afford for the next six months to put a pause on this unique Illinois creation of placing a double tax on gasoline throughout the state of Illinois.
He also said he would like to see the governor champion the pause and he is also calling for the General Assembly to make sure that this provision and the language included in it is adopted as part of the FY2027 budget.