ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Two House Democrats publicly announced their opposition to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s push for a ballot question that seeks to amend the state’s constituition to allow for a progressive or graduated income rate structure.
State Representatives Sam Yingling (D-Round Lake Beach) and Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) came out against Pritzker’s plan last week, winnowing the number of potential yes votes from 74 down to 72 in the House of Representatives. Democrats need at least 71 votes for the question to appear on the November 2020 ballot and House Republicans have repeatedly stated they are all opposed to the idea.
Pritzker’s office responded in a statement, saying in part, “Those who oppose this plan are siding with millionaires and the very wealthy against everyday Illinoisans, and they need to offer an alternative that will fix our state’s long-standing fiscal challenges.”
“I’m standing with my district,” Carroll responded on Capitol Connection. “I have people that do well in my district. But there are pockets of people who don’t do as well,” he said.
“It was time for me to come out and say something,” he said.
“The wealthy people in my district that I’ve spoken to, and the reasonably wealthy people that I’ve spoken to, don’t have an issue with paying more in taxes. What their issue is is, ‘When does it stop?’ Our property taxes just went up. We have high sales taxes in our district. The federal government didn’t do us any favors by reducing the SALT deduction to $10,000. Some taxes have gone up on the wealthier members of my district. Their response is, ‘You can blame us if you want to, but it’s not our fault. We’re happy to pay our fair share, but we need to pay our fair share in a more equitable way. You’re raising our property taxes and you’re raising our income taxes. When does that stop?'”
