Quantcast

Sangamon Sun

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Roll Call: Murphy votes against constitutional amendment on progressive tax

Shutterstock 373239541

State Rep. Mike Murphy (R-99) on May 27 voted against allowing voters to decide if Illinois should adopt a graduated income tax.

With the passage of the Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment No. 1 by both chambers of the state legislature, a referendum will be placed on the November 2020 general election ballot asking voters to decide whether to remove the state’s current flat income tax in favor of the progressive tax. 

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says a graduated tax rate will ease the burden on middle-class families by generating $3.4 billion in additional state revenue. Critics, however, claim the tax reform effort does nothing to address the underlying issues facing the state -- skyrocketing pension deficits, health insurance costs and property taxes. 

A recent poll initiated by Ideas Illinios showed that nearly half of respondents said a progressive tax is  “a blank check for Springfield politicians to spend more and will hurt Illinois’ economy and force businesses to leave the state,” according to the  Illinois Policy Institute.

To become law,  60 percent of those voting on the referendum (or 50 percent of those voting overall) will need to vote in favor of the question.

District 99 includes all or parts of Springfield,  Auburn, Berlin, Chatham, Curran, Divernon, Leland Grove, New Berlin, and Thayer.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS