A key Democratic state senator said Thursday he will seek a vote Tuesday on his controversial plan to ask voters to amend the state constitution to replace Illinois’ flat-rate income tax with a graduated tax based on the amount of income earned.

“We understand it is a difficult choice, but we’re simply asking that the voters be allowed to weigh in and make a decision about tax policy and how Illinois should tax income,” Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park said during an appearance between proponents and opponents of the plan before the Tribune editorial board.

But Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine said Harmon’s proposal was just another variation of a plan endorsed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and top Democratic lawmakers to make permanent the 67 percent personal income tax rate increase enacted in 2011 that was supposed to be significantly rolled back starting in January 2015.

The number of heroin overdose deaths in Will County dropped from 58 in 2012 to 38 in 2013, thanks in part to expanded educational awareness, local officials told the Young Adults Heroin Use Task Force.

However, monitoring deaths is only the tip of the iceberg, Will County Coroner Pat O’Neil told the state-appointed task force, which is collecting testimony on heroin abuse from communities throughout Illinois.

A more effective indicator might be to track overdose treatments by first responders, who often are able to save victims by using anti-opiate drugs such as Narcan.