Rock Island Today

Vouching for the need to heed voters, Brandi McGuire, a Republican candidate seeking a House seat from District 72 – Quad Cities, recently expressed her support for implementing a taxpayer bill of rights designed to empower Illinois constituents.

Based on the concept of requiring lawmakers to ask before acting, a taxpayers’ version of a bill of rights is not entirely unprecedented. As far back as 1992, Colorado legislators passed the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) as a constitutional amendment designed to protect consumers from uncontrolled public assessments and spending.

McGuire championed the model, saying that a taxpayer bill of rights is “much needed in Illinois.”

Currently, there exists no way to stem the tide of lawmakers’ mandating new taxes on everything from motorists and gasoline to beverages, alongside notoriously high property taxes — and in some areas, such as Chicago, high sales taxes.

“Voters need to be heard,” McGuire said.

She went on to demonstrate her support for a system to protect the population by requiring accountability before taking action — so that politicians would be obliged by law to ask permission from voters before attempting to raise taxes. 

Such a bill of rights would allow businesses and residents to know their long-term tax liabilities in advance and be able to budget appropriately. Additionally, constituents would gain better knowledge of how their tax money is spent through improved transparency.