From the Illinois Policy Institute…
Governor Pat Quinn and House Speaker Mike Madigan want to stick a lump of coal in your stocking this holiday season — in the form of a lame-duck tax hike. They’re spoiling to raise taxes before the new General Assembly is sworn into office in mid-January.
Despite receiving less than 50 percent of the popular vote, Governor Quinn believes he has a “mandate” to pad his public employee union friends’ pockets while sticking Illinois families with the bill.
We’ve been here before. Remember 2009, when everyone said a tax hike was “inevitable”? Well, we stopped it then and, with your help, we can stop it again.
Thanks to our friends in the Institute’s IT department, we’ve put together a handy tax calculator that allows you to find out how much more you’d pay in taxes should Governor Quinn and his big-spending pals have their way.
I’d like to ask you to take three simple steps today:
1. Try the tax calculator to find out in twenty seconds or less how the tax hike will affect your family.
2. Pitch in! Take just half of what Governor Quinn is proposing in higher taxes and make a tax-deductible contribution to help stop this revenue grab!
3. Forward this email to your friends, co-workers, and family. We need everyone on board to win this.
We’ve killed a tax hike before. With your help, we can do it again.
Sincerely,
Katie Truesdell
Manager of External Relations
Illinois Policy Institute
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Tax-Hike-Apalooza!
It’s the party we don’t want to happen! Right now in Springfield, talks are taking place and deals being brokered in an attempt to pass a 33% increase in the state income tax in early January. Today, several members of the Institute and concerned citizens handed out information to passer bys and holiday shoppers on State Street, making them aware of this. Also, John Tillman appeared on Fox Chicago (video above), WGN Radio, and WBBM radio this morning to discuss the situation, and yesterday, the Illinois Policy Institute released a bevy of reports and research about what this means for Illinois and for you:
- Tax Hike Calculator How much will the tax hike affect you and your family?
- How to Lose Jobs and Alienate People: Proposed Tax Hikes Would Shrink Incomes and Destroy Jobs. The tax increase could cost the average family $1,353 and/or destroy 107,000 jobs over the next three to five years.
- Fact Finder: Is Illinois a “Low Tax” State? No, it’s not. In fact, one of the only tax advantages our state has…is the one our governor and many in the legislature are talking about raising.
- Mixed Messages: How Governor Quinn’s Tax Hikes Will Erase President Obama’s Tax Cuts. Why can’t Governor Quinn figure out what President Obama has recently learned: raising taxes in the middle of a recession is flat-out bad policy.
We’ve put all of these reports, along with much of our past research, at www.illinoispolicy.org/taxhike for your convenience. Read these reports and share the link with your networks. Let’s spread the word.
Do Something about It
Talking to your legislators in person and making your voice heard is one of the most effective ways to help turn around the State of Illinois between elections. That’s why the Institute is heading down to Springfield on January 5. We’re having bus pickups in Downers Grove and Bloomington. More information here.
Update on Breaking Report: Change Is Coming
Since the release of last week’s report on dangerous practices in the Cook County Adult Probation Department, our investigative reporter has been inundated with calls from long-term staffers at the department. They have never been more hopeful about seeing crucial changes within the department. Additionally, this was the subject of a special report on Fox Chicago’s evening news with Dane Placko on December 15. Watch that segment here.