Progressive income tax Senate Bill 687 passed the Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee 9-6 along party lines for approval with some overlooked procedural rules meant to ensure deliberation and public notice. Members of the general public had no opportunity to voice their opinion on the measure in the days leading up to its passage. A Republican Committee member called out this maneuver noting that citizens were denied the ability to post witness slips supporting or opposing the rates bill prior to the hearing (nearly 10,000 opposing witness slips). The R&F Committee Chairman explained he was not in violation of the rules because the bill was posted for the committee hearing—though it wasn’t heard or voted upon—and he never technically adjourned that meeting, meaning they remained in a days-long recess. This allowed the committee to call a surprise vote on the rates bill. In addition to the surprise calling of the bill, three Democratic members of the committee who have either voiced opposition or withheld vocal support for the progressive income tax were substituted out of committee and replace with “yes” votes. What does this say about your confidence in this policy—in this measure—when the only way that you can get it through to the floor of this House is by engaging in legislative tricks and shout down people on the other side? On to the House floor (on Memorial Day) the progressive income tax amendment, SJRCA1, passed on a party line vote of 73-44. All Republicans voted “no and all Democrats voted “yes” with the exception of a Chicago Democrat who was not present. Now this will be up to the statewide voters whether to eliminate Illinois flat income tax protection on the November 2020 ballot. Though the rates plan approved by the House differs in some ways from Pritzker’s original proposal, the overall effect would be the same: a tax hike that would hurt small businesses, drag down economic growth, fail to close the budget deficit or pensions and serve as a bridge to higher taxes for the middle class. Illinois Policy Institute has been a viable source for taxpayers voicing their opposition to the progressive tax with over 12.5k calls made to lawmakers, tens of thousands of petition signatures and emails. Over the course of this session, the active email list has grown to over 530,000 that will continue to be informed of the importance of their vote to overturn the flat tax and change the Illinois Constitution. The fact that state lawmakers blew through internal deadlines to pass this amendment in late May, when voters weren’t watching, speaks volumes about their confidence in the plan. Page 8
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