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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Under Illinois constitutional law, the individual
3income tax is levied upon incomes at a flat, non-graduated
4rate; this flat rate is explicitly specified by subsection (a)
5of Section 3 of Article IX of the Constitution of Illinois; the
6Constitution, with its flat-rate income tax language, was
7ratified by the voters in November 1970; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Many other states impose a flat income tax,
9including the neighboring states of Indiana and Kentucky; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Unlike some other taxes imposed by the State of
11Illinois, including the tax on motor fuel and the State's use
12and occupation taxes, the income tax is non-regressive; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Given an opportunity to reopen the question in
14November 2020, the people of Illinois renewed their commitment
15to a single State individual income tax levied at a flat rate;
16when presented with a proposed constitutional amendment to
17strike this language and to grant the politicians of Illinois
18the right to enact multiple income tax rates to be levied upon
19multiple levels of income, the proposed amendment was
20resoundingly defeated; and
 
21    WHEREAS, As evidenced by the November 2020 voting numbers

 

 

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1on the Graduated Income Tax Amendment, with passage requiring
2either (i) a simple majority of all of those casting ballots in
3the overall election or (ii) a three-fifths majority of those
4voting on the constitutional question, the proposed amendment
5fell far short in both categories, with more than 3.0 million
6"no" votes cast against the measure; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The 3,059,411 "no" votes cast against the
8proposed constitutional amendment were a majority (53.3%) of
9the votes cast on the question and were also a majority (50.2%)
10of the total votes cast in the November 2020 election as a
11whole; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Enough "no" votes were cast on the proposed
13constitutional amendment that it fell more than 360,000 votes
14short of a simple majority and more than 760,000 votes short of
15a three-fifths majority of those voting on the question; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The people of Illinois have spoken with dignity
17and finality on the question of what form the individual
18income tax should take in Illinois; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Despite the expressed constitutional command of
20the people of Illinois, re-expressed as recently as November
212020, some voices continue to speak in favor of reopening this
22question yet again; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, As on every previous occasion when this question
2has arisen, the abolition of the constitutional flat-rate law
3and its erasure from the income tax code of Illinois would make
4it easier for politicians to enact multiple income tax rates
5upon multiple levels of income earned by the working people of
6Illinois and to spend this money however they want; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The people of Illinois do not want a Graduated
8Income Tax; the negative effects upon the lives of Illinoisans
9by reopening this issue would far outweigh whatever benefits
10have been promised to them by those who call for the
11reconsideration of such a tax; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
13HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
14we oppose a graduated income tax law in Illinois, whether it is
15called a "graduated tax", a "progressive tax", a "fair tax",
16or any other euphemism its supporters wish to use to present it
17to the voters and engender support; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That we oppose the reconsideration by the
19Illinois General Assembly of any constitutional measure
20intended to yet again reopen the flat-rate income tax language
21of subsection (a) of Section 3 of Article IX of the
22Constitution of Illinois; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2delivered to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of
3Representatives, and the Senate President.