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 When Mario Conforti joined his family’s
delicatessen full-time in 2020, he quickly realized how costly running a
business in Illinois could be. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $650 million in tax hikes
aimed at small businesses aren’t helping.
“Tax and fee hikes are really tough for small businesses like us. Our margins
are pretty tight, so tax hikes hit us the hardest. Our sales have gone up a lot
but our monthly tax payments are huge, too, which is eye-opening,” Conforti
said.
In 2019, Pritzker’s budget added 24 new taxes and fees, including $650 million
in tax hikes targeting small businesses. About 70% of the state’s job creation
comes from small businesses.
Illinois’ record of taxes and fees has caused the state to become one of the
worst places to do business in the Midwest. It was the only Midwest state to
drop in the Tax Foundation’s Business Tax Climate rankings since 2017. Illinois’
business climate dropped 10 places, to 36th from 26th in five years.
A worsening business climate and rising taxes leave business owners such as
Conforti more susceptible during economic downturns.
“Inflation has definitely been our biggest challenge for the last 18 months or
so. Prices have been going up on everything. People are including gas surcharges
on almost everything, which is frustrating,” Conforti said. “It’s just an
additional flat cost. It started with COVID, and now with gas prices, even
shipping costs have skyrocketed.”
Having a competitive tax system is important and Illinois is in danger of
completely falling out of the race if voters approve Amendment 1 on the Nov. 8
ballot.
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Under Amendment 1, businesses will be at risk for significant tax increases as
Illinois would become the only state to decree public union powers as nearly
untouchable, putting the weight of the Illinois Constitution behind union
bosses’ abilities to strike over a virtually limitless list of demands and the
ability to override state law through their contracts. Greater public union
demands mean greater demands for taxpayers to fund those demands.
Additionally, the unconstitutional conflict Amendment 1 creates between federal
and state law would generate legal questions that must be decided by the courts.
Private-sector employers could face unfair labor practice claims by failing to
comply with Amendment 1. The increased costs of public union bosses’ demands and
labor lawsuits would fall on small business owners. It would also saddle the
average family with a $2,100 property tax increase.
Amendment 1 includes a guarantee that, if passed, taxpayers and lawmakers would
have an extremely difficult time stopping continued tax and fee increases and
the exodus of jobs and families from the state.
On Nov. 8, voters will decide whether continued tax hikes should fall on small
businesses and working families or whether they are no longer limitless ATMs for
politicians wooing union bosses.
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