dgiuliani@daily-journal.com
State Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst, R-Kankakee, says she will not go along with Democratic proposals for a progressive income tax.
Under such a system, people’s taxes rise as their income increases.
Illinois has long levied a flat income tax, which stands at 4.95 percent.
Last month, Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker proposed a temporary increase in the flat income tax until voters could pass a state constitutional amendment to allow the progressive tax, according to the Chicago Tribune.
He said he also would propose deductions and credits to protect those in the middle and working classes from seeing their taxes raised, the Tribune reported.
In a mass email last week, Parkhurst spoke out against such an idea.
“There is not enough support to amend the constitution to repeal this (flat tax) requirement,” Parkhurst said in the email. “So Democrats’ ‘progressive’ graduated tax is really another flat tax rate increase. Then, they offer tax deductions to certain groups to retroactively make it graduated. It is a fake ‘progressive’ graduated tax.
“This will only hurt the people who do not have the resources or know how to navigate our complicated tax code and will raise taxes on middle-class and low-income households,” Parkhurst said.
Responding to Daily Journal questions, Pritzker’s campaign said there were other options to get to a progressive income tax system, but maintained the candidate still was pushing for a constitutional amendment and supporting legalizing marijuana, which the campaign projected would bring in hundreds of millions in tax money.
Parkhurst is running against former Democratic lawmaker Lisa Dugan, of Bradley, in the November election. Dugan didn’t return a message for comment on the progressive income tax.
In a 2010 interview with the Daily Journal, Dugan supported a progressive income tax.
The wealthiest in Illinois, she said at the time, have seen their incomes increase markedly in the past decade “and they pay something like 2 to 3 percent” in taxes.
“Our tax structure is not fair,” Dugan said.
Parkhurst has joined other House Republican in backing a resolution opposing the progressive income tax.
The resolution said the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index for 2018 ranked Illinois 29th most favorable in its report that compares states’ tax systems, noting that Indiana was ranked ninth, Michigan 12th and Missouri 16th.
But the resolution failed to note a number of nearby states fared worse than Illinois — Minnesota (46th), Ohio (45th), Iowa (40th), Wisconsin (38th), and Kentucky (33rd).
The resolution said Illinois was eighth highest nationwide when comparing the amount in local and state taxes as a percentage of the average taxpayer’s income. None of Illinois’ neighbors landed in the top 15, the resolution said.