This is an opinion piece from State Rep. David McSweeney in support of his campaign against the Democrats’ plan to raise income tax rates:
Don’t Raise Our Taxes Again
By State Rep. David McSweeney
In a recent appearance on Chicago Tonight, I had the opportunity to talk about attempts in Illinois to get a graduated income tax Constitutional Amendment on the November ballot.
State Resp.David McSweeney and Christian Mitchell debated raising taxes on WTTW.
Rest assured liberal activists all across the state are gearing up for a major legislative fight this spring. Proponents of a graduated income tax know that a graduated income tax would hit working families the hardest and would unfairly punish middle class families trying to improve their quality of life. Proponents of a graduated income tax tout “fairness” as the reason to change Illinois’ tax structure.
Fairness?
Just what exactly is unfair about a flat tax that expects taxpayers to pay the same percentage of their income in taxes?
When it comes to taxes everyone should pay their fair share and in Illinois taxpayers of all income brackets pay a flat tax of 5 percent (this tax rate was unfortunately raised by 67% in 2011). The tax rate is scheduled to decrease to 3.75 percent in 2015.
The more income a person earns, the more money that individual pays to the state.
The fair tax is the flat tax.
If proponents of a graduated income tax really want a “fair” tax, then they would be advocating to keep Illinois fair by making sure Illinois’ income tax remains flat.
The point of a graduated income tax is not to create fairness because how can an imbalanced tax burden be fair?
The end game with the graduated income is to create more revenue for the state by raising taxes.
David McSweeney
Liberal politicians know that Illinois taxpayers will not stomach another tax increase battle like the one that occurred in 2011 when a lame duck Legislature approved a so-called “temporary” income tax hike in the wee hours of the morning.
So instead of taking action to make the income tax permanent, liberals are actively working to back door a tax increase by implementing a graduated income tax in Illinois.
Another alarming aspect about the graduated income tax is that proponents have not provided any specifics as to what the new income tax rates would be.
The best indication about what the proponents of the graduated income tax want comes from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
Their proposal is a marginal tax rate ranging from 5% to 11%.
Anyone earning between $5,000 and $100,000 annually would pay a 5% marginal tax rate; a family earning $100,000 to $150,000 would pay 7.5% and the rates would continue to go up until individuals earning more than $1 million would have to pay an 11 percent tax rate.
Christian Mitchell
Considering the fact that the current 5 percent tax rate is set to be scaled down to 3.75 percent in 2015, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability’s suggested marginal tax rates would essentially be a tax increase on everyone making $5,000 or more per year.
Under the guise of “fairness,” the proponents of a graduated income tax are attempting to implement an even larger income tax increase than the one lawmakers approved in 2011.
The last thing Illinois needs right now is higher taxes.
According to a recent study from the Tax Foundation, Illinois has the second-highest property taxes in the country.
The combination of high taxes and over-regulation are driving jobs and opportunities out of Illinois and as a result, Illinois has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the nation.
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ forecast for job growth for 2014 ranks Illinois 50th out of 50 states.
Raising taxes would only serve to drive more jobs and opportunities out of Illinois.
We cannot afford to make the state’s economy worse than it already is.
What Illinois needs is to create an environment conducive for job growth and job creation. Raising taxes on people making as little as $5,000 per year is as unfair as it is unwise.
Please join the fight to oppose a graduated income tax and help keep Illinois flat by going to http://davidmcsweeney.com/ and signing the petition.
History of Illinois Individual (Personal) Income Taxes.
Tax Year Ending – Rate
2015-future: 3.75% If No Further Legislative Action Taken!
2011 – 2014: 5.00%
1990 – 2010: 3.00%
1989 – 1989: 2.75%
1985 – 1988: 2.50%
1984 – 1984: 2.75%
1983 – 1983: 3.00%
1969 – 1982: 2.50%
http://tax.illinois.gov/Individuals/ratespenaltiesinterest.htm
The number one reason the State wants more individual (personal) income tax revenue is to fund pensions.
History of Illinois Public Sector Pension Law.
One sentence was added to the Illinois State Constitution at the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention.
“Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
Constitution of the State of Illinois.
Adopted at special election on December 15, 1970.
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/conmain.htm > Article XIII – General Provisions > Section 5. Pension and
Retirement Rights.
The sentence does not address pension benefit hikes.
There is no cap on pension benefit hikes.
Pension benefits were hiked by State legislators and Governors from 1971 – current.
This coupled with generous collective bargaining and administrator pay hikes has resulted in far larger pensions than what was in place in 1970.
Thus more revenue is now needed, and has been needed for the last 40 years, to fund larger public sector pensions.
If 1970 pension benefit levels had not been hiked, public sector pensions would be fully funded.
Special interest groups whom receive, are in line to receive, or benefit from public sector pension include public school teachers and administrators, public university workers, public state workers, state legislators, judges, police, fire, and private investment firms whom invest the pension fund money.
Police and Fire do not receive State funding for pensions.
But it’s State law that determines pension benefits.
And Municipalities receive general State funding which can be used for funding pensions, either directly or indirectly.
Rather than raise personal income taxes, reform pension law, collective bargaining contract law, and administrator contract law.
For example the public should approve and all public sector pay contracts.
Currently Illinois law is such that the public does not approve collective bargaining agreements (cba) and administrator pay contracts.
That is not the case in all 50 states.
Illinois voters can and should demand their legislators enact laws to reform cba and administrator pay
contracts.
The cba and administrator pay approval process is currently a one way street benefiting special interests.
Far too many boards and Administrators approving the contracts either are in cahoots with special interests, or don’t have the laws they need to write reasonable contracts.