“Even with Monday’s favorable ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court, there is still a need to ensure there are sufficient sources of revenue to support all of the planned projects in this capital program. Therefore, I reiterate my strong support for increasing the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack to provide a supplemental, more secure source of funding for this comprehensive capital plan which will create tens of thousands of jobs in Illinois. I sponsored the proposed cigarette tax bill, which passed out of the Senate this spring, and I believe we have to make a renewed effort to pass that legislation out of the General Assembly as soon as possible to supplement the revenue mix of what was in the original capital funding program.”