Rally Demands Tax Increase Action from Illinois Lawmakers

Up to 15,000 people are participating in one of the biggest rallies in the history of the Illinois state Capitol.

The secretary of state's office says about 12,000 people marched the streets of Springfield on Wednesday. Even more were on the Statehouse grounds, bringing the total to about 15,000.

The event was billed as a "Save Our State'' rally. It drew state employees, teachers and advocates from social service organizations.

Fired-up speakers urged the crowd to turn to the Statehouse. They shouted slogans such as "Show some guts!''

Don Dixon is a teacher at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign and a board member of the Illinois Education Association. He brought 20 students to the state capitol for the rally. Dixon says there will be more layoffs in his district unless the state puts more money into education.

We just laid off 153 people in the second round. The first round we laid off about 50. And it's only going to get worse," Dixon said. "The state has pretty much screwed up entirely as far as funding anything. So bills are being paid late. Eventually we're just going to have to close down if we don't get an increase in revenue and get some sillier things cut out."

Gov. Pat Quinn wants a 33 percent increase in the income tax, but House Democrats have been reluctant to back a hike.