National Taxpayers United of Illinois Opposes Income Tax Hike

NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNITED OF ILLINOIS
407 S. Dearborn, Suite 1170 * CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60605
(312) 427-5128 * Fax (312) 427-5139 * Web Site <www.ntui.org> * E-mail
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Tobin (312) 427-5128 or (773) 354-2076 (Cell)
April 9, 2008

TAXPAYERS ASK ILL. HOUSE COMMITTEE TO SCUTTLE STATE INCOME-TAX-HIKE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT HJRCA42

SPRINGFIELD—The president of Illinois’ largest taxpayer organization has asked each member of the State Government Administration Committee (SGAC) of the Ill. House to oppose House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 42 (HJRCA42). The letter of opposition was sent by FAX to each committee member on Monday, April 7.

“State Representative Michael K. Smith (D-91, Pekin) has sponsored a constitutional amendment, HJRCA42, that would double the state personal income tax for upper-middle class taxpayers,” said Jim Tobin, President of National Taxpayers United of Illinois (NTUI). The SGAC will consider HJRCA42 at 8:30 am, April 9, in Capitol Building Room 114.

“This bill is an income-distribution scheme that would make Karl Marx proud,” said Tobin. “The state income tax would be initially doubled, to 6 percent, on that portion of income of individuals and joint-filers that exceeds $250,000.”

“This is a shameful class-warfare bill that deserves to be put in the trash bin. Chicago machine politician, St. Rep. Joseph Lyons (D-19, Chicago), was quoted as saying, ‘Let’s take from the rich and give to the poor.’ However, what this bill would really do is take money from productive citizens and transfer it to less productive government employees.”

“The bill would sock it to the 107,000 households in the state who earn more than $250,000 a year.”

“Part of this tax windfall would be given to the state’s overpaid public school teachers, administrators and consultants, and the remainder would go to pork barrel projects such as state-sponsored construction. As a token, the personal exemption would be doubled for those making less than $250,000 annually.”

“This back-breaking state income tax increase would cause small business owners to move to states with lower tax rates and increase Illinois’ unemployment rate. In a time of economic downturn, raising taxes would be catastrophic to the local business environment.”

“I ask the members of the State Government Administration Committee to scuttle this socialistic raid on Illinois’ most productive citizens.”


Founded in 1976, NTUI is the largest taxpayer organization in Illinois with over
10,000 members and affiliation with more than 200 local taxpayer organizations.
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