10/03/2020
Regardless of your Party or who you plan to vote for in the election.
Please make sure you understand this ballot issue for Illinois. These are not all my words but a good explanation of the misnomer Fair Tax.
I never tell anyone on how to vote. Just be sure you understand what it is and vote accordingly. PLEASE educate yourself before casting your vote on the “Fair Tax” in Illinois this November. This is an amendment to the Illinois Constitution, which is a big deal, so please make sure you know what you are voting for.
Currently, Illinois has a flat tax system for state income tax. The rate is 4.95% for everyone. If you make $50,000 you pay $2,475. If you make $500,000 you pay $24,750. Make ten times more - pay ten times more.
If passed, the proposed “Fair Tax” imposes a graduated tax system with different tax rates at different income levels. The current proposal will supposedly only increase actual amount of tax paid on those making over $250,000, so I’m sure the majority of people are thinking “why not, I don’t make that much, so it won’t affect me."
The “Fair Tax” amendment gives total control to the Illinois Legislature to increase taxes on any group of taxpayers with no limits and no accountability and without any requirement to use the additional revenue to fund essential needs such as healthcare, education or public safety. Nothing in the amendment requires the legislature to do anything to control spending. While this amendment does not tax retirement income, it paves the way for such a tax in the future.
Now, I don’t care who you are, I think we all can agree that giving total control to a bunch of politicians who have proven by their past actions that they are not capable of managing the State’s finances in a responsible manner, doesn’t sound like a good idea. If the “Fair Tax” doesn’t generate the expected revenue, then they will have the authority to make additional changes until they achieve the desired results (without any additional voter approval required).
They could push a higher tax rate down to incomes well below the proposed $250,000, so it may not be long until those households making well below $100,000 are paying more too. They could increase the rates so that everyone would be paying more. They could choose to tax retirement income (which is currently not taxed at the State level in Illinois). They will be able to increase taxes on small businesses who are already struggling to recover from the state mandated shutdowns due to Covid-19.
If Illinois passes the “Fair Tax” this November we are giving that control to the elected officials in our State Legislature to be able to do what they want, when they want.
Our constitution already allows them to change our tax rate, as they did a few years ago when it went from 3% to 4.95%. So if they truly feel the only way to generate necessary revenue is by raising taxes, they have the ability to do it. The difference is now, they need to think twice because a tax increase affects all Illinoisians equally. They need to be able to explain that decision to all voters in their districts. The proposed “Fair Tax” would allow then to pick and choose and play politics with the process.
With the amount of corruption and back door dealings that are well-documented in Illinois politics, do we really want to give our elected officials the ability to reach into our pockets any time they want? You get to decide as long as you get out there and vote!
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