(Chicago, IL) – July 29, 2010. Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady today attacked an announcement by the Quinn administration made yesterday that it foresaw an Illinois income tax increase from 3% to 5% early next year, but Brady’s criticism meet stiff resistance from various quarters in Chicago.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Illinois Budget Director David Vaught, who recently made news as a staff member receiving a $24,000 pay hike by Governor Pat Quinn, declared, “We’re going to pass a tax increase in January.”

Predictably, Brady pounced.

The ultra-conservative state senator from downstate Bloomington today held a news conference in Chicago and responded by saying, “Pat Quinn’s only answer to the worst fiscal crisis in Illinois history is to feed big government – and we’re paying for it. We cannot afford a 67 percent tax hike while ten percent of Illinois citizens can’t find a job.”

Brady cited Illinois’ current $13 billion deficit to underscore his argument against a tax increase, citing Quinn “mismanagement” of state finances, but the 17-year veteran of the legislature offered no new detailed plan of his own to whittle the deficit, a fact which is becoming a sore point among political observers and even among fellow GOP lawmakers.

Earlier this week State Senator Larry Bomke (R-Springfield) said, “I’m not running for governor. I think Bill Brady probably has a plan, and at some point, I’m sure he’s going to disclose it.”

Additionally, Brady’s attack on the Quinn administration’s latest tax idea met stiff resistance from some in Chicago.

“Clearly, it is impossible to cut health care, education, and human services even more without having a negative effect on general public well-being and safety,” said Tony Kopera, president of Community Counseling Centers of Chicago. “I would like to see an income tax increase and a corporate tax increase with some of the revenue earmarked for human services.”

Kopera noted that the Illinois budget cuts at his community mental health agency on Chicago’s north side, which the state owes $1,750,000 in overdue bills, have been brutal.

“Community Counseling Centers of Chicago has lost $4,000,000 in state funding over the last several years,” he said. “The impact on the families in the communities that we serve has been horrific.”

Graphic designer Dane Tidwell, a resident of Chicago’s South Loop district, was equally dismissive of Brady’s tax hike opposition.

"I don't see how people think we can get out of this mess without a tax increase. Show me a realistic, nuts and bolts plan that works without it,” said Tidwell. “Of course I think a variable income tax rate increase would be a better solution and keep the needy from being hit, but even at 5% Illinois is lower or in line with most other states."

And House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skokie), who also represents Chicago’s north side, echoed Tidwell’s remarks, saying, “We have long passed the point in which a plan to eliminate the deficit and balance the Illinois budget with no new revenue has been deemed credible by any serious policy maker. It can’t be done.”

As of June 30, 2010, Illinois’ unpaid bills stood at $4.7 billion.