Gov. JB Pritzker won progressive plaudits when he — a man worth an estimated $4 billion — backed a plan for a graduated income tax early on in his campaign for governor in 2017.

But as Pritzker claimed frontrunner status in a crowded Democratic field last year, and eventually became the party’s nominee to face off against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, everyone from journalists, Republican critics and even some within his own party began demanding that then-candidate Pritzker release a framework of progressive income tax rates.

But over and over, Pritzker refused, saying he would rather negotiate rates with the legislature than release his own rates. On Thursday, however, the wait finally ended, and the governor claimed his plan would give 97 percent of Illinois taxpayers a break.