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PRITZKER
TAKES 1 STEP FORWARD, 2 STEPS BACK ON TAX HIKE PUSH
Illinois Policy Institute/
Austin Berg
With taxpayer opposition intensifying, the
governor’s vision for a $3.4 billion progressive income tax hike is
slipping away.
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 J.B. Pritzker announced his run for governor of Illinois more
than two years ago.
From the jump, his campaign pushed a simple policy message: pass a progressive
income tax constitutional amendment. Pritzker has been singing the same song
throughout his first four months in office. And a group bankrolled by Pritzker
called “Think Big” has spent more than $3 million on TV commercials selling this
argument across the state.
But with taxpayer opposition intensifying, the governor’s vision for a $3.4
billion progressive income tax hike is slipping away.
On May 7, Southern Illinois Democratic state Rep. Jerry Costello announced his
resignation from the General Assembly and appointment to a position as the
director of law enforcement at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He
was the lone House Democrat who vocally opposed Pritzker’s constitutional
amendment. Progressive tax backers saw this as a win.
 But the very next day, two courageous House Democrats from the other end of the
state publicly voiced their opposition to Pritzker’s plan, too. State Reps. Sam
Yingling and Jonathan Carroll both pointed out the severe lack of protections
for property taxpayers in their districts.
Yingling represents the Lake County communities of Round Lake, Round Lake Beach
and Grayslake. Carroll’s district straddles Cook and Lake counties, including
communities like Northbrook and Buffalo Grove.
“The current proposals do not adequately address the crushing burden that our
property tax system places on homeowners,” Yingling wrote in a May 8 letter to
the Chicago Tribune. “I will be a ‘no’ vote unless adoption of a progressive
income tax ends the state’s regressive and abusive property tax system.”
Carroll also urged caution.
“I am a ‘no’ on this plan and changing the constitution. I’m not opposed to
modernizing how we tax in Illinois, but this has to be done right,” Carroll said
in a statement. “The current proposals don’t address our oppressive property tax
issues.”
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Yingling and Carroll are right. And there are more
Democrats waiting in the wings.
Illinois Policy Institute research shows that even
under generous assumptions, any promise of middle-class income tax
relief under Pritzker’s progressive income tax plan would quickly be
wiped out by routine property tax hikes.
That’s because the governor’s plan for a progressive income tax does
nothing to address some of the biggest cost drivers for both state
and local governments: pensions and government worker health
insurance. Without reforms to those costs, property tax bills will
continue to balloon.
So what happens when Illinois lawmakers do the right thing and stand
up for taxpayers – specifically homeowners facing some of the
nation’s highest property tax rates?
They’re attacked by Pritzker.
“Those who oppose this plan are siding with millionaires and the
very wealthy against everyday Illinoisans,” the governor’s office
stated, “and they need to offer an alternative that will fix our
state’s long-standing fiscal challenges.”
At the time of that response, Pritzker had reportedly not met with
either lawmaker to discuss his progressive income tax amendment.
The governor has only himself to blame for opposition to his
proposal. Pritzker has not earned the trust of taxpayers who look
beyond the “fair share” rhetoric and see a state that remains
unwilling to balance its books – while they pay more in taxes each
year.
In an interview with ABC 7 on his first 100 days in office, Pritzker
confirmed there were “no guarantees” against middle class tax hikes
should the progressive tax constitutional amendment fall his way.
The governor’s plan ultimately relies on a political promise that
many Illinoisans aren’t willing to accept.
Apparently, their elected officials aren’t buying it either.
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