Illinois Progessive Tax Proposal Stall

Posted on May 08, 2014

Recently, the Illinois’ progressive tax proposal was not even introduced in time to be be considered for vote on the November ballot. While a spokesman for the primary group advocating for a progressive tax called the proposal not making the November ballot “really just a hiccup,” other news outlets have gone farther, saying the proposal was “effectively killed,” said the TaxFoundation.

If this particular initiative passes, then it will be on a ballot at sometime in the future in order to determine if the taxpayers are willing to amend the state constitution to allow a progressive tax here in Illinois.

Under a progressive tax, the more money you make, the more money in taxes you pay. The legislators chose to not resubmit the bill because its an election year and, as a result, the bill would likely fail. Nobody wants to have to defend a tax increase on the campaign trail, even if the hard choice (i.e., a tax increase) is still a good choice for the state.

As to why they chose to not reintroduce the bill, its harder to reintroduce a failed initiative a second time. So, from a strategy standpoint, they chose to wait for a more opportune time (i.e., after the fall elections). Stalling does not necessarily hurt a bill – its just kind of waiting in the wing for a more opportune time (see election reference above).