Gov. J.B. Pritzker Wednesday defended his proposed tax increases to pay for a capital bill against critics who said they will disproportionately hurt the poor.

 

Pritzker acknowledged some of the proposed taxes might be considered regressive, but he said they also represent a stable source of income.

 

"In order to put an infrastructure bill together, you've got to have various revenue sources," Pritzker said. "It's important that they are stable revenue sources because you need to bond them out."

 

Investors want to know there is a reliable revenue source behind bonds they invest in.

 

Pritzker proposed more than $1.7 billion in tax and fee increases to finance the $41.5 billion program. That included doubling the state's gasoline tax and raising license plate fees. Those two alone account for more than $1 billion of the increases.

 

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