Ill. Gov. Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker is so worried that his income theft amendment to the Ill. Constitution will go down to defeat on November 3 that he is threatening to raise the state flat-rate income tax if his amendment doesn’t pass, said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Not only is Pritzker trying to intimidate his constituents,” said Tobin, “but he doesn’t have the guts to do it himself. He had his minion, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, do his threatening for him.”
Stratton announced that Illinois lawmakers would have no other choice but to increase the state’s income tax by 20% if voters didn’t approve Pritzker’s amendment.
“Stratton’s threatened increase on behalf of Pritzker would raise the state income tax rate by $4 billion to 5.94%. This would be the highest personal income tax rate in Illinois history. This threat by Pritzker, through his mouthpiece Stratton, is unconscionable,” said Tobin.
“Cutting state spending is one obvious solution, but that put out of work government bureaucrats who vote as a bloc for Democrats like Pritzker.”
“The ultimate solution to the state’s fiscal problems would be for Pritzker’s thugs in the general assembly to sponsor a state constitutional amendment that would enable cutting back the lavish, gold-plated pensions that are making pension millionaires out of retired government employees. But, to state Democrats, this solution is unthinkable.”
‘Rather than trying to prevent the state from going down the drain, Pritzker is relentless in his support of converting the state income tax into a graduated income tax, which would destroy the state’s middle class. If the amendment is approved by voters, the corrupt general assembly could – and would – raise the rates for the various income levels as frequently and as high as they want.”
“Additionally, the state corporate income tax rate would jump from 9.5% to 10.49%, making it the third-highest corporate income tax rate in the country, driving even more small businesses out of the state.”
“Illinois has had some rotten apples for governors, but now, Pritzker is turning out to be the worst governor in the history of Illinois.”
