In an historic victory for taxpayers, Gov. JB Pritzker’s income theft amendment, the proposed change in the Illinois Constitution to usher in a graduated income tax, was defeated.
Every taxpayer victory is important for Illinoisans, but of all our victories, this one was the biggest. Unlike what Pritzker thought, taxpayers are not stupid, and neither are they gullible. Illinoisans pay some of the highest taxes in the United States, and we’ve already seen several massive tax increases from Pritzker over the past few years. Taxpayers have had enough, and the repudiation of Pritzker’s money grab is evidence of that.
If governor Pritzker, Speaker Madigan, and all of their cronies still want to hold office after this election, they must add a word to their dictionary: REFORM. Instead of lying to taxpayers with their endless empty promises, they need to roll up their sleeves for the first time in their lives and fix Illinois.
How would they fix Illinois? Simple: reform the Illinois government pension system that has destroyed so many communities across Illinois. It can be done with a simple constitutional amendment to allow the state government-employee pension plans to be restructured for the benefit of everyone. I call it the Fair Pension Amendment.
In addition to the rejection of the income theft amendment, taxpayers also rejected Home Rule in Crestwood. Home Rule is also a Trojan-horse tax increase like the income theft amendment. History has shown that Illinois taxpayers, when able to participate in direct democracy, will always reject higher taxes. The two referenda wins together make 439 taxpayer victories for TUA, and prove that petty tyrants like Pritzker can not increase state taxes if Illinois citizens make their wishes known at the polls.