A fake Twitter account and tweet promoting Illinois' progressive tax proposal that is on the ballot in November has been removed after it was shared numerous times by a group funded by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Progressive-tax supporters calling themselves the Vote Yes For Fairness group, have been heavily funded by Pritzker to the tune of $56.5 million this year to promote changing the state’s flat income tax to a higher rate on higher income earners, Cities929.com reported.
The fake Twitter account was shared by the Vote Yes for Fairness group, which shared a screenshot on Facebook on Oct. 9 of a tweet from @Liz_Uihlein. The Uihlein family is the owner of Uline, one of the largest companies in the state.
The Tweet read: “Why should I be expected to subsidize my employees’ taxes? They don’t need a handout from me, they already get a paycheck. Vote NO on the tax hike amendment. #FairTax #FairTax Now”
The fake Twitter account has been removed but the post from Vote Yes For Fairness was shared nearly 200 times, Cities929.com reported.
“On behalf of Uline . . . the alleged Liz Uihlein Twitter account was a fake account, and Liz Uihlein has never had a Twitter account,” Ellie O’Neil, a publicist with Mueller Communications LLC, told Cities929.com. “After being reported to Twitter, the fake account has been removed by Twitter for impersonation.”
The image of the tweet was posted and shared on the Yes For Fairness Facebook page less than a minute after it was allegedly posted by Liz Uihlein.
Vote Yes For Fairness posted the fake tweet from the fake Twitter account with the accompanying words, “Billionaires like Liz Uihlein don’t care about our middle- and lower-income families — they only care about protecting their bottom line. That’s why they’re fighting to stop the Fair Tax, which would make them finally pay their fair share, while giving a tax cut to 97% of Illinoisans.”
Aside from heavily funding the progressive tax group, the ballot measure is Pritzker’s priority initiative and asks voters to change the state’s constitution, reported WTTW.com. The tax rate would go from a flat tax of 4.95% to a graduate tax, and those making $1 million would pay 7.95%.
Vote Yes For Fairness Executive Director Quentin Fulks said it is the best way to get needed revenue for the state and make high earners pay for it.
“Illinois is in a fiscal hole and we need revenue to get out of it, and we believe that revenue should come from those who have it and can afford it, and take the burden off lower- and middle-income Illinoisans,” Fulks told WTTW.com.
Those opposed to the ballot measure say the constitutional amendment, if passed, would give a blank check to lawmakers who may raise taxes even more down the line.
“They wanted us to trust them, and on the tax hike that they’re proposing, we won’t be voting on those tax rates,” Lissa Druss, spokesperson for the political committee Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment, told WTTW.com. “They’re not baked into the constitutional amendment. The only thing baked into the constitutional amendment is giving Springfield more power, asking us to trust them.”
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