SE Illinois News

Illinois state Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) is elated to see more taxpayers coming to the same conclusion he’s always had when it comes to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “fair tax” plan.

“I think people are beginning to do their own research, get educated, and they’re finding out the facts for themselves,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News in light of recent polling that shows more state voters now view the plan as “just a blank check for Springfield.”

“They’re finding out that there is absolutely no possible way that 97 percent of Illinoisans are going to save on taxes,” he said. “It is not possible. I think they’re understanding that the real tax burden lies within the middle class – the very people that Pritzker claims to want to help.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker | Twitter

Illinois Policy Institute reports that a new Ideas Illinois-commissioned survey finds that nearly half, 46 percent, of all Illinoisans who plan to vote in 2020 now have lost confidence in the plan that Pritzker has been touting since his days as a candidate and believe it “will hurt Illinois’ economy and force businesses to leave the state.” Overall, support for the progressive tax plan has dipped since February from 59 to 51 percent. 

A referendum question on the issue is slated to appear on the November 2020 ballot with 60 percent approval from voters, or over 50 percent of those casting a ballot overall, being needed to change the state from a flat tax to a progressive income tax system.

“I think Illinois voters are seeing with this gas tax increase and all the other taxes that were imposed on them that life is really dangerous in Illinois,” Bailey said. “That’s what we have been saying since day one, and thank goodness we’ve got a little over a year to educate [voters about] what this thing is going to do. I think the voters are going to get their eyes opened a year from now when we go through our next budget process. If Illinois hits any snag at all with a recession, these problems are going to be magnified very seriously.”