SE Illinois News

Republican state House hopeful Paul Jacobs worries what Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s best laid plans could come to mean for Illinois.

“With the so-called fair tax, we it would add additional burdens to businesses that would like to come to Illinois,” Jacobs told the SE Illinois News. “We are already the most taxed state when you combine all of our taxes our business taxes at this point. This of course does not encourage businesses to purchase land and open businesses here.”

Running in the 115th District, Jacobs warns the governor’s progressive tax proposal just lays the ground for more of the same. A new Illinois Policy Institute analysis projects that small businesses across the state soon could be forced to pay as much as a 50.3% marginal income tax rate should the tax appearing on the Nov. 3 ballot in the form of a referendum question garner the support it needs for passage. Ignoring growing warnings from many that the tax stands to handcuff small business owners even more, the governor continues to push his signature proposal as one that will only mean higher tax rates for the state’s most affluent residents.

At around 60% of net job creation, small business owners currently rank as the state’s biggest job creators. But those numbers could soon be on the decline, with researchers finding an increase in the top marginal tax rate could mean a slide in the hiring practices of entrepreneurs and slumping earnings for workers.

“With the news that Illinois leads the country in unemployment at over 10%, it probably would be best not to add the burden of additional taxes for businesses that employ people,” Jacobs added. “If half the businesses don’t open, as was said in the summer, we will be very short of jobs. Remember, we have 210,000 private for-profit businesses. If you decrease that by half, think of the unemployment that we will have in our near future.”

Jacobs argues that for Pritzker and company, there seems to be a method to the madness.

“It seems that the leadership of Illinois at this point is trying to drive our economy to oblivion with the wish that the federal government will come in and bail us out,” he said. “I think that is a very poor plan when you need to simply reduce corporate taxes, reduce property taxes, reduce every tax that you have and encourage businesses that employ people to come to the state.”