Prairie State Wire

An Illinois state representative from DuPage County disagrees with the so-called "fair tax" proposal that would replace the state’s current flat income tax if approved by voters in November. 

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) shared her thoughts Tuesday evening at a digital town hall hosted by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action. 

“It's not going to help anyone in my district because one of the arguments that are being offered in favor of [the tax plan] is that it will go to help schools,”  Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), who represents the 47th District, told the Prairie State Wire. “Schools in my district are already almost exclusively funded by property taxes because the state has been unable to meet its obligations. Under the school funding formula, schools in my district will not get additional funding. So there's a lot of misleading statements that are being made.” 

Illinois state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) | File photo

Mazzochi appeared at the virtual event along with state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) and former state Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard), who is currently running to regain his seat in the 48th District.

"I really hope that we can educate the people in our district, as well as throughout the rest of the state, that this constitutional amendment is going to, in the long run, do nothing but impose more pain on regular Illinois citizens and it is not going to be the problem-solver that its advocates tout," Mazzochi said. “The fair tax is a misnomer. It is not fair and it's designed to divide people apart as opposed to generate good government policy.”

Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed the Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment No. 1, opening the way for the proposal to be placed on the Nov. 3 ballot.

“The minute we get rid of the flat tax, you're going to enable even more pay-to-play corruption in Illinois and that is the antithesis of what Illinois needs,” Mazzochi said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he introduced the fair tax, also known as a graduated or progressive tax rate, as a means to ease the burden on middle-class families because it would earn the state $3.4 billion in added revenue, as previously reported in the DuPage Policy Journal. 

“It's misleading for Gov. Pritzker to say that the fair tax is somehow going to lead to the rich paying their fair share,” said Mazzochi. “Gov. Pritzker is a billionaire who put $56 million into this effort. Yet, according to some reports on his recent tax filings, he claimed he only made $6.5 million and paid roughly $200,000 to $210,000 in Illinois taxes.”

The Vote Yes For Fairness campaign argues that the current tax system is broken and forces essential workers to pay the same tax rate as wealthier Illinois residents. Mazzochi, however, said the tax would punish working professionals who have worked hard and climbed the ladder, as well as small business owners.

“People like Gov. Pritzker who can use all kinds of tax schemes to shelter income are not going to see much change to their tax bill at all, so I don’t view that as fair,” she said. “If the governor really wanted to ensure that people in his income bracket were making bigger contributions to the state of Illinois, he would advocate for taking away various tax credits that allow them to shelter income at the federal level and say ‘We're not going to recognize those here in the state of Illinois.’”