Illinois lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are “open” to the idea of taxing retirement income, expanding sales taxes and raising gas taxes.
Four state lawmakers took to the airwaves of WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” Monday to talk about the state’s finances. When asked about raising new revenue, state Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, echoed Chicago Democrat Sen. Elgie Sims Jr. and Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, in their support for the idea of taxing retirement income for wealthier Illinoisans.
“If it included progressivity and probably a little bit more than that, like what David Harris was proposing, that would be something I would consider, but we would have to make sure we were protecting lower or middle-income retirees,” Mitchell told moderator Carol Marin.
None specified what kind of income classified as lower or middle-class.
Illinois currently has the highest state and local tax burdens in the nation, according to a report by WalletHub. That ranking was taken before the state increased the personal income tax rates to 4.95 percent and the corporate income tax rate to 7 percent.
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, was the only panelist to warn that retirees would leave Illinois if their income is taxed.
“People are making choices because of the high property taxes in this state to move 45 minutes from me to Indiana because the property taxes are lower,” she said. “I’m a ‘no.’”
Census data show Illinois has lost more people to net migration than any other state in the U.S. the past few years. Illinois' population has declined each of the last four years.
All four panelists on "Chicago Tonight" said they would entertain expanding the services taxed by the state.
Harris said lawmakers contemplated expanding the sales tax in last year’s budget but “we didn’t have the political will to do it.”
Including Illinois, three states have an income tax yet don’t tax retirement income.
“We are obviously looking for different ways to bring in revenue for the budget,” Rezin said, adding that “the opening is there.”
Mitchell and Sims Jr. supported the idea as long as it only hit the state’s more well-off citizens.
Three of the four supported raising gas taxes as well.
