By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans are taxed out, and they don’t need to be paying more in gas taxes says State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee).

“Right now, it’s predatory to raise taxes,” Skillicorn told a statehouse news conference Monday, shortly before the legislature’s two-day lame duck session began. “We just had a 32 percent (income) tax increase. All I heard during the campaign was more taxes, more taxes, more taxes. It has to stop.”

So he is launching a pre-emptive strike against any proposal to raise them. The news conference, which preceded a rally in the Rotunda, attempted to refute all arguments to raise the gas tax, including the need to build and fix roads.

“I drive around Chicagoland a lot. Every road is ripped up or under construction. The idea that they are not being maintained does not seem realistic to me — and the people,” he said. “We should be leveraging our Congressional delegation and getting the federal government to step in — as promised!”

When asked about the disrepair of Downstate bridges, Skillicorn suggested all they need is maintenance.

Skillicorn also said cars are more fuel-efficient — trucks, too — and lighter than ever, reducing wear on the roads.

A large poster depicted a red fuel can and the words STOP THE GAS TAX HIKE as well as Skillicorn’s web address, www.repskillicorn.com.

In addition to the regular sales tax, Illinois imposes a 19-cent tax on a gallon of gasoline, a figure which has stood since 1990.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]