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State
Sen. Larry Bomke,
R-Springfield, chief sponsor of the bill, explained that the
legislation,
Senate Bill 2066, requires the Illinois Department of Employment
Security to offer unemployed citizens the opportunity to have state
taxes withheld a little at a time, rather than expecting these
individuals -- who are already financially burdened -- to be
responsible for providing a large lump-sum payment at the end of the
year. "Often unemployed
citizens owe significant amounts of money to the state when they
file their taxes because there was no state tax initially withheld
from their unemployment checks," Bomke explained. "This creates a
needless economic strain on people who are obviously already
financially strapped."
Under current law, unemployed
taxpayers are not even offered the option to withhold state income
tax. By allowing a taxpayer to have 3 percent per pay period
deducted from each check, rather than forcing these people to pay 3
percent of their annual benefits in one lump sum, Bomke hopes this
"worker-friendly" proposal will help Illinois' financially strapped
citizens to get back on their feet.
[to top of second column in this article]
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 If approved, the bill will also
improve fluidity of the state's cash flow, Bomke said. By
withholding tax on a per-check basis, the state will receive revenue
steadily throughout the year, instead of cultivating a system where
the collection of unemployment tax return revenue is contingent on
the taxpayers filing their tax returns.
Senate Bill 2066 now moves to the
Illinois House of Representatives for approval.
[News release from Illinois
Senate Republicans]
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