Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine)
Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine)
Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) sees the writing on the wall where Gov. J.B. Pritzker's progressive tax proposal is concerned.
“When revenues fall short in Illinois, they will have to go back and start taxing larger segments of the state population,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “This plan is being sold as only taxing the wealthy, but that’s the reality.”
Morrison insists that the proof is there to be seen for anyone willing to look, citing most recently the findings of a new Stanford University study gauging the impact of a similar tax plan on California’s economy. Researchers found that a progressive income tax structure has “triggered a wealth exodus” among the state’s most affluent residents, with roughly 40 percent of them admitting they are more likely to leave the state as a result of the tax change.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
In addition, the 2012 enactment of the law has come nowhere near generating the level of revenues that politicians promised.
“Illinois would be very foolish if we did not heed the lessons learned from other high-tax, high-spending states,” Morrison said. “We live in the times of a very mobile economy and individuals that have the greatest ability to move are the very ones Illinois Democrats want to tax.”
With the state’s debt load rising almost as fast as its tax rates, Morrison fears that neither increasing taxes nor decreasing population trends are going to reverse course anytime soon in Illinois.
“When revenues start to fall short, as they will, Illinois will have to go back and start taxing even larger segments of the state’s population,” Morrison said. “You can almost see it coming.”
Now in his eighth year in Springfield, Morrison serves on the House’s Appropriations-General Service, Personnel and Pensions, and Insurance committees. His 54th District includes all or portions of Palatine, Inverness, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows.