The Budget Compromise is a Multibillion Dollar Income Tax Hike

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Chicago, IL – The Illinois Senate is expected to vote on a budget compromise this Wednesday, the day of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s (R) State of the State address. The proposal will include hikes to Illinois’ personal and corporate income tax rates and neglects to consider substantive, long-term reforms to the state government.
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) urges the Illinois Senate to reject this deeply flawed budget.
“The only compromise found in the new budget proposal is a growing tax burden for Illinois residents in exchange for minimal reforms,” said TUA’s president, Jim Tobin. “Passing this budget will continue to allow Springfield to operate its fiefdom without systemic changes to Illinois’ state government.”
Under the proposed budget compromise, the state’s personal income tax would increase from 3.75 percent to 5.25 percent, surpassing former Gov. Quinn’s (D) 2011 sixty-seven percent income tax hike, which sunset in January 2015, and failed to significantly reduce the state’s unfunded liabilities or improve Illinois’ financial standing.
The state’s corporate income tax rate would also be hiked under the proposal, from its current rate of 7.75 percent (including the often-overlooked personal property replacement income tax surcharge of 2.5 percent) to a rate of 9.5 percent, one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the country.
“According to the Tax Foundation’s most recent data, Illinois is tied with Wisconsin and California for the fourth highest overall state and local tax burden,” said Tobin. “Taxpayers are fleeing the state at the highest rate in the country for better economic opportunities, which increases the tax burden for those of us who cannot move or refuse to leave the lives we’ve made for our families in Illinois.”
“The Senate’s proposal includes a two-year property tax freeze and minor government pension and worker’s compensation reforms, but the hikes to the personal and corporate income tax rates will only continue the financial downfall of Illinois,” said Tobin. “We urge the Senate to reject this tax-increasing budget compromise in the interest of the taxpayers of Illinois.”
 

Taxpayers United of America says Madigan likely won't step down, despite petition

Karen Kidd of the Madison-St. Clair Record interviewed Taxpayers United of America’s executive director, Jared Labell, about the chances of longtime Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan stepping down as Speaker and TUA’s letter demanding he do so for the sake of Illinois’ taxpayers.


SPRINGFIELD – The number of signatures is growing on a petition urging Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan to step down but Taxpayers United of America’s executive director says he’s very realistic about the chances Madigan will step down.
“While we certainly hope the unimaginable happens – that Speaker Madigan suddenly decides to relinquish power tomorrow – it’s doubtful,” Taxpayers United of America Executive Director Jared Labell said in an email. “History tells us that Speaker Madigan will continue to raise taxes, incur debt, and spend wildly until he leaves office, and the taxpayers of Illinois should see to it that this session in Springfield is his last.”
Signatures are being gathered largely online on a page at Taxpayers United of America’s website. Paper petitions and copies of the letter were sent to Taxpayers United of America members. Responses via email and :snail mail” are also welcome, Labell said.
“Taxpayers United of America has received thousands of signatures online, in the mail, phone calls, and support via social media,” Labell said.
He said the response is heartening, despite the slim likelihood at Madigan will respond to it.
“I’m encouraged by the response we’ve received so far and would certainly love for all Illinois residents to join us in demanding that Speaker Madigan step aside for the good of taxpayers and Illinois’ economy,” he said. “Taxpayers are pleading for property tax relief and are worried about possible income tax hikes, but they will remain unsure of their financial futures as long as career politicians like Speaker Madigan rule Springfield.”
The swearing in of the 100th General Assembly was scheduled for Jan. 11.
Madigan, the nation’s longest-serving state House speaker, has held that seat since 1983 except for a couple of years in the mid-1990s when Republicans controlled the House.
Calls for Madigan to not enter a fourth decade as House Speaker have been mounting.
The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board urged voters in the run-up before the General Election to “break up” with Madigan as House speaker.
“Madigan has become a liability for many Democrats on the Nov. 8 ballot, and not only in southern Illinois,” the Tribune said to voters on Oct. 21. “The dysfunction of state government, the enormous spending, the pension crisis, the chronically unbalanced budgets – the onus falls largely on the leader who’s been in Springfield for 46 years. Since 1971.”
Illinois voters, especially those outside of the greater Chicago area, did turn out for Republicans in the General Elections. As a result, the GOP gained four House seats in the legislature. Those results left Springfield House Democrats with a 67-51 majority, eroding the 71-47 super majority the party had before the General Election.
The higher number of Republicans in the State House might be sending its own message to the House Speaker, even if enough Democrats can’t be persuaded to join Republicans to vote against him.
Should all Republican House members vote against Madigan, which observers say seems likely, nine Democrats would have to break ranks, which seems unlikely. If that did happen, those 60 votes against Madigan would be enough keep Madigan from continuing on as House Speaker.
Before Christmas, the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board issued a list of Democrats who might be persuaded to vote against Madigan.
“What do you have to lose except two more years of dysfunction?” the newspaper’s Dec. 21 editorial said. “Remember, you don’t work for him. You work for voters. They didn’t send you to Springfield to be gutless. They sent you to do what’s best for Illinois, regardless of the consequences.”

No Lame-Duck Illinois Income Tax Hike!

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2017
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Chicago, IL – Some Illinois lawmakers are hoping to end the state’s 18-month budget stalemate when they return to Springfield today for a two-day lame-duck session, but raising the Illinois state income tax by $4 billion is not a winning proposal for anyone, especially taxpayers.
Taxpayers should demand legislators reject a new personal income tax hike,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America. “Not only is a $4 billion income tax increase unwise and unnecessary, considering how much money the state already confiscates from hard-working taxpayers, but to try to push this proposal through the Illinois General Assembly with so little time during the two-day lame-duck session is ridiculous.”
The full details have not yet been released, but according to Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-32, McHenry), the deal was shaping up over the weekend between talks with Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and GOP Leader Sen. Christine Radogno.
The proposal includes raising Illinois’ personal income tax to nearly 5 percent from its current rate of 3.75 percent in exchange for a temporary property tax freeze, overhauling the state’s government pension system and changes to workers’ compensation; items Gov. Bruce Rauner has placed at the top of his Turnaround Agenda.
“We support freezing and rolling back property taxes, as well as significantly reforming the government pensions and workers’ compensation, but not at the cost of another economically disastrous $4 billion income tax hike,” said Tobin.
“Lawmakers should refrain from last minute agreements and instead allow the new Illinois General Assembly to take up the matter as soon as they are sworn in. Taxpayers must demand their legislators hear their pleas for tax relief and vote accordingly. Illinois’ taxpayers cannot afford yet another state income tax hike and we urge all members of the Illinois General Assembly to reject it,” said Tobin.
Contact:
Jim Tobin
(312) 427-5128
(773) 354-2076
Jared Labell
(773) 766-4947