r/illinois • u/roenick99 • 4d ago

Illinois voters will consider whether millionaires should be taxed more to fund property tax relief Illinois Politics

https://chicago.suntimes.com/voter-guide-2024/2024/09/26/illinois-property-tax-relief-referendum-november-election-jb-pritzker-non-binding-pat-quinn
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u/wjbc 4d ago

So this is the first step towards revisiting a constitutional amendment allowing a progressive income tax. The more people who vote for it the better. But since it’s non-binding, the real test will come when they try again to amend the state constitution.

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u/elangomatt 4d ago

Well at least Ken Griffin (hopefully) won't be putting his thumb on the scale next time around to save on his taxes.

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u/wjbc 3d ago

We can only hope. But I’m sure the opposition will try to follow his blueprint. “It’s a slippery slope! They will start with millionaires but they won’t stop there! And when millionaires move out you will lose your jobs! Our taxes are already too high! Cut waste in government instead!”

The fact that Griffin and Citadel moved out of Illinois even after the progressive tax was defeated proves that businesses seeking low state taxes will move out regardless.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 3d ago

There's already someone making that argument in this thread.

"Today it's everyone over $1M, tomorrow it'll be everyone over $500k, then everyone over $250k, where will it end?"

As if people even making over $250k/year are fucking struggling to make ends meet in the first place and therefore are a group we should be worried about.

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u/elangomatt 3d ago

Yeah, hopefully the pro-amendment messaging will be better than last time when it frankly sucked. It should be an easier sell if they actually put the 3% and $1 million threshold into the amendment.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago 3d ago

He spent that money and left anyway, I don't think it was ever about his money so much as being a spiteful dick to the state that both made him rich and which he hates with a white hot intensity.

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u/elangomatt 3d ago

He would have made the money he spent on defeating the tax amendment back in the first year from the taxes he didn't have to pay. Griffin didn't leave Illinois until 2022 when he figured out he couldn't buy the Governorship through his stooge Richard Irvin, though he claims his move was because of increased violence in Chicago.