Senate committee passes Constitutional Amendment to put graduated tax on the ballot without middle income protections
State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) said the graduated income tax proposal, which passed the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday, April 10, offers no guaranteed protections for middle class families and poses a risk for the future.
“Moving toward a graduated income tax structure is a big risk that middle income taxpayers should be extremely wary of,” said Sen. McConchie. “Are we really going to trust that the rates the Governor is proposing now aren’t going to increase at a point in the near future?”
To further his point, Sen. McConchie noted that taxpayers should be even more skeptical following the Governor’s recent comments when he was asked if he supports McConchie’s proposal requiring a supermajority to raise taxes in the future. Governor Pritzker said:
“This is something that future legislatures and governors will make about what the rates should be…I think that this legislature and future legislatures ought to have the choices, all the choices, available to them… the future is unknown, and so you want to make sure the options are available…”
“The Governor said it himself, there is no guarantee of what the rates will be,” said Sen. McConchie. “And in committee today, Deputy Governor Hynes would not commit to the Governor not raising rates in the near future. Future rate hikes will be left up to a simple majority of Illinois legislators, who, frankly, have a terrible track record when it comes to taxes.
“If the Governor was sincere about his proposed graduated income tax rates, he would support my proposal. Instead, his opposition proves that his rates are fiction and as soon as the new tax structure is in place, the middle class should be ready for their tax rates to increase.”
The graduated tax proposal, SJRCA 1, now heads to the full Senate for consideration.