David Harris

David Harris was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker to be the Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue in January 2019.  Prior to his appointment Director Harris had served a total of 18 years as a State Representative over two separate periods. He was a member of the Revenue & Finance Committee for all of those 18 years and also a member of the Appropriations Committee for his final 8 years.

In building a bi-partisan team for his Administration, the Governor appointed Harris because of his extensive experience with State budget issues and tax policies. In 2022 he became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federation of Tax Administrators.

After many years of difficult finances, the financial situation for Illinois has improved substantially over the past 6 years. Credit rating agencies have issued 9 straight credit rating upgrades following 17 downgrades over 20 years.

The State’s “Rainy Day Fund” has increased from virtually nothing to more than $2 billion and increased payments were made to the State’s pension funds above the statutorily required amounts. A mountain of delinquent back bills has been eliminated, and the State is now paying its vendors in a timely 25 to 30 days. The Department of Revenue was instrumental in achieving this success.

Harris had left state government in 1992 and took the position of Senior Vice President of the Illinois Hospital Association. He returned to government service in 1999 when the Governor appointed him as The Adjutant General (Commanding General) of the Illinois National Guard, a military force of 13,000 personnel and a state civilian workforce of 500. He retired from the Army as a Major General in 2003 after 33 years of total service.

Before he returned to elective public service in 2011, Harris served in Iraq with the US Department of State as the Deputy Director & Chief of Staff of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO). IRMO was responsible for oversight and coordination of the $18 billion appropriated by Congress for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Director Harris is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, the US Army’s Command & General Staff College, and courses at the US Army War College. He lives in Arlington Heights with his wife; they have two grown sons.