Fair Tax Illinois

Then Governor Richard Ogilvie campaigned for re-election while also supporting the first Illinois state income tax. The tax proposition won but Ogilvie lost. That was the cost he paid for championing a tax measure that was sorely needed by the state. Without that tax Illinois would have been doomed to a meager, has-been state, unable to afford even the barest of needed programs for the well-being of her citizens. 

Decades later we face a similar impasse. The governor is not running for re-election in this election, but he supports boosting the income tax authority from a narrow constitutional flat tax to a General Assembly authority to adjust it as needed. That authority is a must if the state is to remove itself from the unfairest kind of tax of all time – a flat tax.

A flat tax is levied on all taxpayers regardless of their ability to pay. Wealthy are little affected by such a tax, but low income and middle income taxpayers pay with dear dollars, ill afforded.

The original flat tax was the first state income tax for Illinois. Few trusted that politicians would keep their hands off of manipulating such a tax, so the proposition firmly defined the income tax as a flat tax of 3.25%. Since then, the rate has been boosted to 5% by constitutional referenda to address funding problems. The electorate approved of these adjustments.

Now, however, the state is reeling from the COVID-induced recession, as well as an incomplete recovery from the 2008-09 recession. The flat income tax is no longer adequate, nor fair. 

The solution is to amend the taxing authority, so the General Assembly of Illinois has the responsibility to adjust the tax rates and applications as needed to meet funding needs of the state. This eliminates the periodic need to amend the constitution to fix funding problems.

The idea is to restore fairness by increasing tax rates on higher levels of income from wealthy residents. Calculations project this change would lower taxes for those least able to afford them, maintain current taxes on most households, while raising new funds from the wealthiest households. Not only is this a welcome result, it is fair.

Fear tactics are being used to raise a false alarm that most households will see their taxes rise while small businesses will also be hurt significantly. These claims are not justified by the facts. They are bald scare tactics. Those tactics are coming from the same political party that refuses to take action in Congress to send federal COVID relief dollars to state and municipal governments struggling with COVID expenses and reduced tax revenues.

Vote for a Fair Illinois Income Tax.

October 8, 2020