Prairie State Wire

An Illinois group of small business owners, large employers, farmers and community advocates is calling foul on the so-called “fair tax” proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Calling itself the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment, the group is ratcheting up opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot.

“This is the wrong time to do it,” Strategia Consulting founder and CEO Lissa Druss told Prairie State Wire. “There is no good time.”

The amendment and a bill to enact the tax changes were approved by the Illinois Legislature and signed by Pritzker in 2019. But the amendment needs the approval of voters to become state law, and the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment hopes to live up to its name.

Currently, the state income tax rate is a flat 4.95% across the board, as mandated by the Illinois Constitution. Under Senate Bill 687, Illinois taxpayers with an income over $250,000 would see a tax hike. Supporters say it would provide $100 million in tax relief.

The coalition disagrees and says it will in fact add to the tax load in Illinois, as others have indicated. On its website, the coalition lists five reasons to vote against the amendment: It gives politicians more power to raise taxes; it hands politicians a blank check; it would open the door for higher taxes on the middle class; it would hurt small businesses and kill local jobs, and despite the pledge of its backers, such a progressive or graduated income tax structure would not provide material tax relief to middle- and lower-income taxpayers.

“If you look at the ballot committee itself, it’s made up of people across the state – business owners, families, Democrats, Republicans – truly a true grassroots effort,” Druss said. “This tax hike isn’t good for anyone.”

Druss, a veteran journalist and communications strategist, says the coalition is the “only true bipartisan grassroots effort” battling the proposed amendment, which she describes as “deceptive and deceiving.” It’s being sold as tax reform, Druss says, when in fact it hands more authority to state power brokers. They would have “unyielding authority” to raise taxes when and if they see fit, she says.

“And that’s what is unfair,” Druss said. “As people are fleeing our state, the legislature has the right to go in and drop the threshold and change it. It’s just absurd. We’ve suffered through two massive tax hikes in the last 10 years. The state can’t afford another.”

The amendment needs 60% of the votes on the ballot measure to be approved, or a simple majority of all votes cast in the election. Druss says she has no poll data on the status of the amendment.

“But if Pritzker’s spending $55 million of his own money, he must be in trouble,” she said.

Other members of the coalition explained why they oppose the new tax structure in a recent press release.

“If you agree that the Tax Hike Amendment is a trap giving Springfield politicians new power to raise taxes on every group of taxpayers – including middle-class families, then you have a voice and a vote,” said Matt Eggemeyer, owner and COO of Keats Manufacturing. “Please join us in our effort to stop this deceptive tax trap.”

Jackie Richter, the founder of Heels & Hardhats Contracting and Endurance Utilities Services, is also opposed to the change.

“Our coalition includes Democrats, Republicans, farmers, teachers, plumbers and thousands of Illinoisans from across the state who believe this is the worst possible time to raise taxes,” Richter said in the release. “If you too believe we shouldn’t give Springfield politicians more power to increase income taxes on everyone, then join us and help stop this tax.”

Druss told Prairie State Wire that the shared view by Eggemeyer, “a strong Republican,” and Richter, a committed Democrat, displays the unified opposition to the proposed amendment. The fact that such a drastic change in tax law is being considered in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a very uncertain time, should give voters pause, she said.

For more information, or to join the coalition, visit www.NoTaxHikeAmendment.com.