Prairie State Wire

The Illinois National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) voiced concern about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s failed plan to impose a $500 million tax hike on small businesses. 

“We oppose it,” NFIB Illinois State Director Mark Grant said. “We think it's bad for small businesses.”

On Jan. 6, Pritzker said he wanted to decouple a CARES Act tax provision during the lame-duck session, according to Illinois Policy Institute. The measure was shot down in the legislature before it could go anywhere. 

“Our state has been mismanaged for many, many years,” Grant told the Prairie State Wire. “We have a lot of debt, and the governor is looking for any way he can to try to increase revenues. It's just very unfortunate that he’s looking to the small business community to fix this problem that needs larger big solutions rather than just tax increases.” 

The Illinois Policy Institute reported that, if it had been approved, state-level tax benefits established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act would have been eliminated.

“Many of our members are organized as pass-through entities, like sole proprietorships and S-corporations,” Grant said. “It will affect any owners who are at a loss and, given what's happened here in the last year, many of them will have had losses. It could very well impact the majority of our membership.”

NFIB Illinois’ membership is made up of about 10,000 small businesses statewide.

“I'm not surprised by this, unfortunately,” Grant said. “I don't anticipate the current administration to be very considerate of our small businesses. They haven't been so far.”

On Jan. 1, the Illinois minimum wage increased to $11 an hour based on legislation that Pritzker signed in 2019.

“The minimum wage will continue to rise until $15 an hour and that was the governor’s first priority when he got into office," Grant said. "I think this is just a continuation of where his administration is.”