Swordsmyth
05-30-2018, 12:57 AM
Heated debates over income taxes and abortion funding in the state Capitol Tuesday belied what legislative leaders said was a collegial negotiation over the full budget which made lawmakers optimistic they could complete their work by Thursday's deadline. The Democratic-controlled House endorsed a resolution calling for abandoning Illinois (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois)' flat income tax for a graduated tax that hits wealthier taxpayers harder than those of lesser means. It's endorsed by Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker, but the vote was 61-52 in a legislative chamber with 67 Democrats.
The vote on the progressive income tax has political, if not practical, impact. A change would take a constitutional amendment, a proposition which voters couldn't consider before 2020. But Pritzker and legislative Democrats have made it a rallying cry to make the wealthy pay more in taxes than the middle class.
"Lower-income people are spending twice as much of their resources on taxes as are billionaires," said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat.
Republicans claim it's a money grab by Democrats that will hurt the middle class. Rep. Margo McDermed, a Mokena Republican, said the largely middle-class constituency she represents in Will County would pay an average $1,031 more per year on a graduated system.
"When you hear 'progressive,' when you hear 'graduated,' when you hear 'fair,' that is just a lie," McDermed said. "It's a way of trying to get you to think that it applies to you."
More at: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2018-05-29/house-endorses-switching-to-graduated-income-tax
The vote on the progressive income tax has political, if not practical, impact. A change would take a constitutional amendment, a proposition which voters couldn't consider before 2020. But Pritzker and legislative Democrats have made it a rallying cry to make the wealthy pay more in taxes than the middle class.
"Lower-income people are spending twice as much of their resources on taxes as are billionaires," said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat.
Republicans claim it's a money grab by Democrats that will hurt the middle class. Rep. Margo McDermed, a Mokena Republican, said the largely middle-class constituency she represents in Will County would pay an average $1,031 more per year on a graduated system.
"When you hear 'progressive,' when you hear 'graduated,' when you hear 'fair,' that is just a lie," McDermed said. "It's a way of trying to get you to think that it applies to you."
More at: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2018-05-29/house-endorses-switching-to-graduated-income-tax