Statewide Coalition of Leading Small
Business
Organizations Join Together and Urge a No Vote
on Illinois Progressive Tax Amendment
Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois
Farm Bureau, National Federation of Independent Business-Illinois,
and Technology and Manufacturing Association Unite to Urge Voters to
Vote No on Illinois’ Latest Attempted Tax Hike
By Illinois Chamber of Commerce
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[July 09, 2020]
Wednesday, in an unprecedented coalition effort,
the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Farm Bureau, National
Federation of Independent Business - Illinois, and Technology and
Manufacturing Association joined together to urge Illinois voters to
vote no on the Progressive Tax Constitutional Amendment.
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Leaders of the coalition held simultaneous press
conferences at four locations throughout Illinois among the very
people this tax would hurt most: small businesses, farmers,
manufacturers, and workers.
Their message was heard loud and clear: Illinoisans are already
overtaxed. Families, workers, seniors, and small business owners
struggle under the weight of the highest overall tax burden in the
entire country, yet politicians in Springfield are trying to hike
taxes again. The progressive tax will do nothing to address our
sky-high property taxes; will cost jobs, slow wage growth, and hurt
Illinois workers; and will end up raising taxes on the middle class
and the working poor. Illinoisans can’t afford another tax hike,
especially as working families and small businesses struggle to
recover from COVID-19.
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch said, “The
progressive tax increase is the same thing as leaving a huge bag of
taxpayers’ cash at the backdoor of the statehouse and city hall.
None of the money is dedicated to property tax relief, increased
funding of education, public safety or pension debt relief.
Politicians arrogantly demand that hard-working taxpayers trust them
to spend the money wisely. We don’t.”
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert, Jr remarked,
“What this new progressive tax will actually do is take us down the
same route that these proposals have gone in other states. To cover
all of Springfield’s spending and debt, the tax brackets and rates
will have to be changed to raise taxes on the middle class and even
the working poor, with higher rates starting at incomes as low as
$25,000 per year. So while proponents claim the progressive tax
would only tax ‘the rich,’ many of whom are local leaders like
family farmers who are investing in their communities and creating
jobs, the truth is that this amendment will open up every Illinoisan
to tax increases.“
National Federation of Independent Business Illinois Leadership
Council Chair Cindy Neal commented, “Let us not forget that
Illinoisans already pay the 2nd highest property taxes in the
nation, and these local taxes increase every single year.
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"We pay three to four times the property taxes of our
neighbors in Indiana and Wisconsin, and our taxes go up every year
even though property values are stagnant. This progressive tax will
do nothing to address our biggest problem in Illinois: our sky-high
property tax burden. It simply piles additional taxes onto already
overburdened Illinois taxpayers. All of these taxes have serious and
real-life consequences for our families and small businesses,
especially as we struggle to recover from COVID-19.”
Technology and Manufacturing Association President
Steve Rauschenberger noted, “The progressive tax will cost jobs,
slow wage growth, and hurt Illinois workers when we’re already
facing the highest unemployment since the Great Depression due to
the coronavirus. Our Illinois economy continues to lag our neighbors
and the rest of the country because of high taxes. The progressive
tax will further hurt our economy, costing Illinois up to 286,000
jobs and $43 billion in economic activity. This means fewer jobs for
Illinois workers, slower wage growth and higher costs for families,
and less opportunity for our children at a time when we can least
afford it.”
About the Vote No on the Progressive Tax Coalition:
Leading small business and pro-taxpayer organizations from
throughout Illinois have formed a grassroots coalition to defeat the
Progressive Tax Amendment because Illinoisans are overtaxed.
Families, workers, seniors, and small businesses struggle under the
weight of the highest overall tax burden in the entire country.
Illinois’ Progressive Tax Amendment proposal does nothing to address
our sky-high property taxes, will cost jobs, slow wage growth, and
hurt Illinois workers, with the result being a tax increase on the
middle class and the working poor.
[By
Darbi Durham]
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