Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – As the legislature builds a budget – which Gov. JB Pritzker Wednesday proposed as more than $55 billion – state revenue director David Harris (pictured, left) told lawmakers Thursday about the benefits of a tax amnesty program.

“Quite frankly, some people will tell you our collection effort is more aggressive than the IRS,” Harris told the House Revenue and Finance Committee. “The taxpayers very well know that they have a liability. It’s not like we haven’t contacted them, saying, hey, you have a liability here. So if we can go to that taxpayer and say, we can give you a break, you don’t have that penalty, this gives the taxpayer an inducement to pay. It’s a benefit to us, but it’s also a benefit to the taxpayers.”

There is a projected deficit to make up, just not as big as previously thought, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

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