Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn made a public call Tuesday for his GOP opponent Bruce Rauner to release his 2013 tax returns as well as schedules from previous years.
Increased calls for Rauner to reveal his financials come on the heels of a Chicago Tribune report indicating the millionaire venture capitalist has used controversial accounting practices to reduce his tax burden to "less than half the top federal rate for the wealthy."
"We don't need a loophole governor," Quinn said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "The schedules tell the tale. All the detail is needed to determine if there are conflicts of interest and what loopholes are being used by Mr. Rauner to slash his tax burden and shift that burden onto working people."
Rauner has reportedly filed an extension for his 2013 taxes and his campaign says the Winnetka businessman plans to release the 2013 returns before the November election. He has already released state and federal returns for 2010, 2011 and 2012, but the Quinn campaign notes that the schedules are what is most important because they provide information on how and with whom the millionaire makes his money. Quinn noted the urgency in Rauner's need to release the financial documents because voters can start applying for absentee ballots as early as September. Additionally, according to the Quinn camp, gubernatorial candidates from both parties have publicly released their latest tax information for the last 25 years.
"Mr. Rauner has a duty to disclose his complete income tax return - including schedules - from the previous year well before the election in addition to complete records and schedules for recent years which he is deliberately hiding from the public," Quinn added in a statement following the press conference. “The only way for the public to evaluate what loopholes Mr.Rauner jumped through to dramatically reduce his own tax burden and whether or not he has any conflicts of interest in his finances is through the release of his complete income tax returns, including schedules."
Meanwhile, Rauner's campaign is attempting to brush off the increased calls for his tax information as politics as usual.
"Bruce already pro-actively released three years of his state and federal tax returns," Rauner's spokesman Mike Schrimpf told the AP. "This is nothing but a political stunt."
Yesterday, Illinois Lt. Gov. and Democratic candidate for state comptroller Sheila Simon held a press conference calling on Rauner to release his tax information. Last week, state legislators Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) and Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Tinley Park) did the same.
Quinn's 2013 tax returns, which he releases each year, reveal that the governor earned approximately $161,000. Meanwhile, in 2012, Rauner pulled in an eye-popping $53 million as seen in his tax returns for that year, notes the AP.