Bill Text: IL HR0130 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Opposes a graduated income tax law in Illinois. Opposes the reconsideration by the Illinois General Assembly of any constitutional measure intended to yet again reopen the flat-rate income tax language of subsection (a) of Section 3 of Article IX of the Constitution of Illinois.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-16 - Added Co-Sponsor All Other Republican Members of the House [HR0130 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HR0130-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Under Illinois constitutional law, the individual | ||||||
3 | income tax is levied upon incomes at a flat, non-graduated | ||||||
4 | rate; this flat rate is explicitly specified by subsection (a) | ||||||
5 | of Section 3 of Article IX of the Constitution of Illinois; the | ||||||
6 | Constitution, with its flat-rate income tax language, was | ||||||
7 | ratified by the voters in November 1970; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Many other states impose a flat income tax, | ||||||
9 | including the neighboring states of Indiana and Kentucky; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Unlike some other taxes imposed by the State of | ||||||
11 | Illinois, including the tax on motor fuel and the State's use | ||||||
12 | and occupation taxes, the income tax is non-regressive; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Given an opportunity to reopen the question in | ||||||
14 | November 2020, the people of Illinois renewed their commitment | ||||||
15 | to a single State individual income tax levied at a flat rate; | ||||||
16 | when presented with a proposed constitutional amendment to | ||||||
17 | strike this language and to grant the politicians of Illinois | ||||||
18 | the right to enact multiple income tax rates to be levied upon | ||||||
19 | multiple levels of income, the proposed amendment was | ||||||
20 | resoundingly defeated; and
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21 | WHEREAS, As evidenced by the November 2020 voting numbers |
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1 | on the Graduated Income Tax Amendment, with passage requiring | ||||||
2 | either (i) a simple majority of all of those casting ballots in | ||||||
3 | the overall election or (ii) a three-fifths majority of those | ||||||
4 | voting on the constitutional question, the proposed amendment | ||||||
5 | fell far short in both categories, with more than 3.0 million | ||||||
6 | "no" votes cast against the measure; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The 3,059,411 "no" votes cast against the | ||||||
8 | proposed constitutional amendment were a majority (53.3%) of | ||||||
9 | the votes cast on the question and were also a majority (50.2%) | ||||||
10 | of the total votes cast in the November 2020 election as a | ||||||
11 | whole; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Enough "no" votes were cast on the proposed | ||||||
13 | constitutional amendment that it fell more than 360,000 votes | ||||||
14 | short of a simple majority and more than 760,000 votes short of | ||||||
15 | a three-fifths majority of those voting on the question; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The people of Illinois have spoken with dignity | ||||||
17 | and finality on the question of what form the individual | ||||||
18 | income tax should take in Illinois; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Despite the expressed constitutional command of | ||||||
20 | the people of Illinois, re-expressed as recently as November | ||||||
21 | 2020, some voices continue to speak in favor of reopening this | ||||||
22 | question yet again; and
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1 | WHEREAS, As on every previous occasion when this question | ||||||
2 | has arisen, the abolition of the constitutional flat-rate law | ||||||
3 | and its erasure from the income tax code of Illinois would make | ||||||
4 | it easier for politicians to enact multiple income tax rates | ||||||
5 | upon multiple levels of income earned by the working people of | ||||||
6 | Illinois and to spend this money however they want; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The people of Illinois do not want a Graduated | ||||||
8 | Income Tax; the negative effects upon the lives of Illinoisans | ||||||
9 | by reopening this issue would far outweigh whatever benefits | ||||||
10 | have been promised to them by those who call for the | ||||||
11 | reconsideration of such a tax; therefore, be it
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12 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
13 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
14 | we oppose a graduated income tax law in Illinois, whether it is | ||||||
15 | called a "graduated tax", a "progressive tax", a "fair tax", | ||||||
16 | or any other euphemism its supporters wish to use to present it | ||||||
17 | to the voters and engender support; and be it further
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18 | RESOLVED, That we oppose the reconsideration by the | ||||||
19 | Illinois General Assembly of any constitutional measure | ||||||
20 | intended to yet again reopen the flat-rate income tax language | ||||||
21 | of subsection (a) of Section 3 of Article IX of the | ||||||
22 | Constitution of Illinois; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | delivered to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives, and the Senate President.
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