Senate Democrats are paring back on the services that would be subject for the first time to the Illinois sales tax. The Revenue Committee discussed changes to a revenue measure that's not been called on the Senate floor.
Heavy lobbying has convinced the Senate to remove landscaping and home maintenance and personal services except for tattooing and piercing. Storage units and dry cleaning would be taxed under the measure at 6.25%.
Committee chairwoman Toi Hutchinson is a Democrat from Olympia Fields. She says it's good tax policy to expand the sales tax to services. But making it happen in a legislative environment takes jostling and concessions.
The plan still includes a 32% increase in the personal income tax rate. It would go from 3.75% to 4.95%. Hutchinson says the tax increases combined would raise $5.4 billion in revenue.
