By Allison Heverin, DG Progressive Women
On October 1st, Daniel Biss will be in Downers Grove to
speak about the Illinois Fair Tax Plan. The Illinois Fair Tax is
a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would change the
state income tax system from a flat tax to a graduated income tax.
Right now, in Illinois, everyone pays a 4.95 percent state income tax regardless
of their income.
Under the proposed Fair Tax Plan, 97 percent of Illinoisans would not see an income tax increase, with
only those making more than $250,000 a year paying more. The largest increases
would go to those making more than $1 million a year. Specifically, the
proposed new rates are 4.75 percent on taxable income from $0 to $10,000; 4.9
percent from $10,001 to $100,000; 4.95 percent from $100,001 to $250,000; 7.75
percent from $250,001 to $500,000; 7.85 percent from $500,001 to $1 million,
and 7.95 percent on taxable income over $1 million.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker calls the plan a “fair tax” on the
basis that a billionaire like himself should not pay the same tax rate as
someone who makes only $30,000. Under
the current flat tax system, the average
middle-class family in Illinois pays close
to 13 percent of its income in state and local taxes, and people earning less
than that pay over 14 percent. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of Illinoisans pay
only 7 percent of their income in state and local taxes.
In May, the Illinois General Assembly approved a constitutional
amendment that will ask voters whether they want to change the state’s flat
income tax structure and replace it with a graduated tax structure. The question will be on the November 2020
ballot. In order to pass, it will need
the support of either 60 percent of those voting on the question, or a simple
majority of those voting in the election overall.
Former State Senator and Democratic
candidate for governor, Daniel Biss, who backs Gov. Pritzker’s plan for a
graduated income tax, will speak about it on October 1, 2019 from 7:00 to 8:00
at the Downers Grove Lincoln Center, 935 Maple Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515.
