By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
Springfield, Ill. – In his state of the state address Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said he wants to overhaul the tax system to make it fair and also bring in more money for state government.
The Democratic governor said Illinois taxes the poor too heavily.
He said taxes could be cut for five million people through tax credits, bigger personal exemptions and other changes.
Quinn acknowledged the state faces a huge budget crisis and says spending has already been cut significantly, so now Illinois needs more tax revenue.
Other candidates for governor, including Republican state Senator Kirk Dillard, were quick to criticize the speech.
"It was a 90 minute talk there was no vision and no mention of how we are going to put the 700,000 people that are unemployed back to work," Dillard said.
Quinn did call jobs the state's top issue.
He says a plan to sell an unused prison to the federal government for housing terrorism suspects is a move that will create much-needed jobs.