By AP
Springfield, IL – Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes formally announced his campaign for governor yesterday by saying he would try to raise state income taxes on the wealthy as a way to address the state's budget crisis. Hynes will probably face incumbent Governor Pat Quinn in next year's Democratic primary.
At a news conference, Hynes described a new progressive tax - which taxes higher-income earners at higher rates - as the cornerstone of his plan to put the state's financial house in order. He says his plan would spare 97 percent of Illinois residents from paying more.
Hynes contrasted his call for a progressive tax with proposals this year from Quinn to raise the existing flat-income tax rate by 50% on everyone. Only a few states use a flat income tax, which taxes everyone at the same rate.