Kane County Reporter

Republican state House hopeful Laura Curtis is warning Illinois residents what they could be opening themselves up to by voting for the progressive tax measure Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been pushing since has days on the campaign trail.

“I think what we have now with the flat tax is as fair as we can hope for,” Curtis told the Kane County Reporter. “It’s a system where everyone pays the same rates, meaning legislators have to think twice about raising taxes because if they do, it hits all brackets. With the governor’s so-called fair tax, Springfield can pick and choose who they want to raise rates on and when they want to do it. It’s a slippery slope to say the least.”

Voters will finally get to have their say in November, when the measure appears on the ballot in the form of a constitutional amendment. While the governor continues to insist the tax will only mean higher rates for the state’s most affluent residents, Curtis, running against Democrat Maura Hirschaeur in the 49th District, isn’t buying it.

“Every state where this tax has been enacted the rates have increased and retirement income even became taxed,” she said. “The state treasurer has already talked about how this opens the door for retirement income to be taxed here.”

Curtis said it all figures to come at a high cost for the already cash-strapped state.

“We’ve already got a major outmigration problem here. I think if this tax becomes law it will only throw gasoline on the issue,” she said. “There’s nothing about it that seems fair. There’s no way all of our small business owners will be able to survive behind this.”