NS OF THE FAIR TAX ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE Three retirees have joined the Illinois Policy Institute in a lawsuit filed October 5 to challenge the language in the progressive tax amendment, on the grounds that it is not neutral.
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WHAT THE BALLOT WILL ACTUALLY SAY: Proposed Amendment to the 1970 Illinois Constitution The proposed amendment grants the State authority to impose higher income tax rates on higher income levels, which is how the federal government and a majority of other states do it. The amendment would remove the portion of the Revenue Article of the Illinois Constitution that is sometimes referred to as the “flat tax,” that requires all taxes on income to be at the same rate. The amendment does not itself change tax rates. It gives the State the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle or lower income levels. You are asked to decide whether the proposed amendment should become a part of the Illinois Constitution.
Officials on the free market think tank’s website say that the summary is misleading because it suggests that the progressive tax amendment would only grant lawmakers the ability to “impose higher income tax rate on higher income levels,” but the amendment does not guarantee the impact only on higher earners.
The plaintiffs also say that the progressive tax opens the door to a retirement income tax in Illinois, because 32 states with a progressive tax system also tax retirement income in some form. (AARP Illinois has noted, however, that the amendment does not make it easier to tax retirement income, although failure to pass the amendment could mean drastic spending cuts to services and a tax on retirement income.) In addition to the Illinois Policy Institute, plaintiffs include Don Wojtowicz, 84, a former Chicago Police Department officer for 25 years and Chicago Department of Aviation employee for 24 years; Barbara McGann, 83, a retired Orland Park resident who worked at a South Holland auto body shop for 25 years and John Sutherland, a former Chicago Fire Department member for 20 years. The Illinois Policy Institute (illinoispolicy.org) outlined its opposition in an August 27 blog. Mistrust of Illinois lawmakers, as well as differentiation between Illinois taxpayers of different income levels and the effect of the progressive tax on small businesses, were some of their issues.
YES/NO For the proposed amendment of Section 3 of Article IX of the Illinois Constitution.
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