State Sen. Peter Fitzgerald keeps telling us that he is responsible for preventing the single largest tax increase in Illinois history.
As a state senator, representing an area of Illinois that includes the wealthy community of Inverness, Fitzgerald helped block a school funding plan proposed by Gov. Jim Edgar and backed by a variety of educational interests, including groups representing school board members, school adminis-trators, teachers and parents.
What Mr. Fitzgerald does not tell us is that the plan would have provided property tax relief–tax relief for senior citizens, those on fixed incomes and for homeowners whose property values are increasing at wallet-emptying speed. The proposed increase in the state income tax would have distributed the cost of educating our youngsters over the entire population and would have helped lower the burden property taxes place on Illinois homeowners.
More Top Picks Best Hunting Knives
Mr. Fitzgerald also does not tell us why that increase was needed. Educational funding in Illinois is unfair. If your district has a nuclear power plant, shopping mall, car assembly plant or an abundance of million-dollar homes, then your property tax bill benefits. But most Illinois school districts don’t enjoy that advantage. All our youngsters, from Cairo to Inverness, deserve a quality education. That right should not be limited to those from wealthy districts.
If Mr. Fitzgerald won’t do what is right in Springfield, what will he do in Washing-ton? Let’s not give him the opportunity to show us.