SE Illinois News

Republican state House candidate Paul Jacobs laments that with each policy decision they make, Democratic lawmakers in Springfield manage to make Illinois even less attractive to its current and potential residents.

“Illinois has very few things that are optimistic with our out-migration from the state,” Jacobs told the SE Illinois News. “One small bright area is people 65 years and older do not have taxes on their retirement income. All 32 states that have a progressive tax also tax retirement income in some form or another. Our state leaders have said that will happen here also. We will also see that it is not just the rich that are taxed, but all Illinoisans.”

Illinois state Treasurer Michael Frerichs recently let it be known that Illinois plans to follow suit, sharing “one thing a progressive tax would do is make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income.”

Running in the 115th District, Jacobs worries what comes next should voters approve the measure at the ballot box on Nov. 3.

“One of the biggest reasons to vote no on the so-called flat tax is it will allow state legislators to raise taxes at will and removes any need to bring tax increases to a public vote,” he added. “Of course we were told that we are only going to tax the rich; unfortunately we don’t have enough rich. No matter how you add and subtract, it is impossible that the income made off of the progressive tax increase is enough to satisfy our never-ending pension problem.”

With the power to raise taxes readily at their disposal, Jacobs argues few lawmakers will ever feel the need to stop spending.

“So in the long run, probably all of us will have increases in income taxes regardless of our income or retirement income,” he said. “I think it is a sad commentary that in the 115th District, the average income is only $17,500. This same income will have a $6 decrease with a new progressive tax. Why is this person paying any income tax?”

Jacobs’ fears things will only get tougher for many after the damage caused by COVID-19.

“I want people to remember we may lose as high as 20,000 restaurants and other small businesses from COVID,” he said. “If we are foolish enough to tax the small businesses, we will probably affect close to 100,000 small businesses. We cannot afford to run more people out of business and out of the state.”

Between now and Election Day, Jacobs said he plans to spend time making as many voters as he can aware of what he thinks the tax system change will mean.

“It is my personal goal to meet with as many people as possible,” he said. “We must get the message out that we do not want to relinquish our ability to have some say in tax increases. We need business leaders to stand up and take this job to Springfield and create a business atmosphere and not continue business as usual.”