SCHAUMBURG, IL – At a recent candidate forum, the four top Democrat candidates for Comptroller announced their support for reviving a state constitutional amendment to impose a progressive income tax in Illinois, the same progressive tax manufacturers and small businesses fought against and Illinoisans rejected in 2020.
The call from the Democrat candidates comes on the heels of Governor Pritzker’s announcement a week earlier that “Illinois needs a progressive income tax,” and is a reflection of the Democrats’ priorities.
On top of supporting a progressive tax, each of the candidates also claimed the $55 billion budget that Springfield passed for 2026 did not spend enough or include enough tax hikes. Small and midsize manufacturers question when the damage being placed on our working families and businesses will end.
“The rhetoric to revive a progressive tax is not only reckless but dangerous—prospective businesses will hear that and avoid Illinois, struggling working families will no longer be able to afford to live here and move elsewhere, and manufacturers and businesses looking to expand in this state will have to account for added taxes,” said Technology & Manufacturing Association (TMA) Executive Vice President Dennis LaComb.
“Hasn’t Springfield done enough damage already? From the unaffordable energy and transit bills that were passed in veto session to decoupling from federal tax cuts that would have put more money back into the hands of our manufacturers, the policies coming out of Springfield continue to stifle economic growth and hurt those needing support most. Small and midsize manufacturers are already struggling to keep up—a progressive tax would be backbreaking.”
TMA was part of the campaign opposed to the progressive tax in 2020 and helped lead a coalition of business groups that represented 500,000 association members and over 4 million employees to defeat the constitutional amendment, even after Governor Pritzker spent nearly $60 million to sell it.
“It’s time to put this path towards a progressive tax to bed. Instead of wasting time, money, and resources to sell a failed product that voters rejected, let’s come together and come up with real, common-sense solutions that balance our budget, eases the burden on working families, creates an environment in Illinois where small businesses and their employees can thrive and prosper.”