Governor Pritzker campaigned on a graduated income tax and needs it politically to avoid failure in his first year as governor. Pritzker also claims he needs the tax hike to fund all his newly proposed spending plans.

In other words, it’s another tax hike with no reforms. Sound familiar? (One year later: 2017 tax hike failed)

In order for Pritzker to get his graduated income tax, he needs to change the Constitution, ending the state’s flat tax structure. If he can get two-thirds of the House and Senate to support SJRCA1, voters will then decide if they want to make it easier for Gov. Pritzker to hike taxes. But that isn’t how it is being sold.

Pritzker is disingenuously selling a “millionaires tax” but what the Democrats won’t let the voters decide are the actual rates. Instead, they want more power, while asking us to trust they will do what they say.

That is because if the measure passes, legislators will have more power to choose the rates they determine as “fair” and increase taxes as they deem necessary to pay for the state’s bloated, inefficient government.

They need your vote to raise your taxes so they promise that this time you can trust them to do the right thing. But, trust is earned, not given.

What have the Chicago Democrats done to earn your trust?

Not much according to a 2016 Gallup Poll, which found Illinoisans had the least amount of confidence in their government in the entire country.

Only one in four Illinoisans are confident in state government. So why should Illinoisans all of a sudden believe Pritzker’s promises?

Why should we believe the same legislators who promised that temporarily raising taxes in 2011 would solve our problems, and then again promised us that a 32% income tax hike in 2017 was the policy that would fix our state?  

Just last week, Pritzker had to appoint Democrat Rep. Jerry Costello to another state position because he publicly opposed the graduated tax.

Two other representatives publicly stated they are no votes because they understand that more tax hikes will not solve the financial problems that Illinois currently has and will only continue to accelerate the state’s exodus. Members from both sides of the aisle realize that this is a bad deal for taxpayers and it does nothing to reform the policies that have brought on this financial disaster in the first place.

The truth is, there aren’t enough millionaires or things to tax (although, we are sure they’ll try to find some) to generate enough revenue to pay for all of Pritkzer’s promises.

As you know, the political class has done nothing to earn your trust. Don’t loosen the purse strings for Madigan and Pritzker. A vote for the graduated income tax is a vote for the status quo, a vote to continue the tax and spend policies that have landed Illinois at 51/50 worst state for taxpayers.

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