The politicians in Illinois must have noticed because they now want (another “ hold my beer” moment?) to accelerate the already-happening collapse of their state. “That may mean they have to take their children to a shelter where they don’t know where their next meal or where their next housing situation will come from.”ĭivougny predicted a progressive income tax “definitely won’t help those people who actually need those extra services.” He argued the extra revenue from a progressive income tax would not provide enough funds to eat into the state’s increasing pension obligation which often crowds out other budget items.I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how New York is committing slow-motion fiscal suicide. “If those funds run out, that person may be sleeping on the street,” said Niya Kelly with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Other groups that rely on state funding said if lawmakers don’t raise money to balance the state’s budget, homeless people in need could suffer. “I don’t know if this is something that would do that where I could come out and tell you that we are going to move, but I think it is something we have to continue to evaluate.” “I think it would have to be something that would really tip the scales,” he said.

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs asked the governor’s staff, “Why do we have to get this done in the next two weeks?” Republicans voiced concerns about the rush to approve a ballot question roughly a year before the State Board of Elections deadline.

“It doesn’t sound like we’re going to have the rates for a long time,” Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) concluded. “They don’t have to be decided on before the constitutional amendment,” Representative Rob Martwick (D-Chicago) explained. Curiously missing from the proposal was the actual rates and income tax brackets themselves. The House Revenue and Finance Committee voted nine to six along party lines to advance the ballot question to the House floor for a debate over the future of the state’s income tax structure. (WCIA) - Only one thing stands between Illinois voters and a November 2020 ballot question to adopt a progressive income tax: a vote in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chamber.

Illinois flat tax vote