The Tribune has Gov. Pat Quinn's response to Dan Hynes' proposal to raise new revenue by instituting a progressive income tax in Illinois:

Quinn accused Hynes of essentially jumping on the graduated income tax bandwagon, saying he led an effort as lieutenant governor to amend the Illinois constitution in 2004 to change the tax structure, but at that point Hynes was opposed to the idea. The referendum was advisory-only, however.

"Maybe he's flipped and he's flopped over on our side. I'm glad he has," Quinn told reporters. "But I can tell you in 2004 he wasn't there to help us, and we can't have naysayers, we can't have people in government who say no to fundamental reform, and I'm the person who's getting those reforms accomplished."

"I put that issue on the ballot in the primary of 2004," Quinn said. "I went to my predecessor, he wouldn't support it and his comptroller, Dan Hynes, wouldn't support it either. Now all of a sudden Comptroller Hynes has religion on this, well bless his heart, welcome to the battle for a fair tax system. But I've been there, I've been fighting for this for a long time."

One quibble with the Trib's reporting: It's not really fair to describe Quinn as pushing solely for an "advisory" referendum in 2004.  It's true that an advisory ballot measure championed by Quinn passed that year.  It asked voters if the state should raise the personal income tax on individuals who make more than $250,000 a year to help fund schools and provide property tax relief for homeowners.  It appeared on the March primary ballot in 22 counties, including Cook, and the idea received overwhelming support from those voters. 

But Quinn's effort didn't stop there.  Citing the success of the amendment, he pushed the General Assembly to subsequently place a binding referendum (SJRCA 20) on the 2004 general election ballot.  Unfortunately, the legislature failed to bring the measure up for a vote before the relevant deadline.