Crippled by a massive deficit, Illinois has seen its bills pile up and its bond ratings fall. Now the state's Democratic leaders are making a desperate effort, and fighting the clock, to fill the budget hole with an equally massive tax increase.
They want to boost the personal income tax rate temporarily by up to 75 percent, pushing the current rate of 3 percent as high as 5.25 percent.
In sheer percentage terms, the Illinois proposal could be the biggest tax increase on the long list of increases states have passed as they grappled with recent economic woes.
