Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Ben Bierly trembles at the thought that Illinois small business owners could soon be forced to shell out upwards of a 50% marginal income tax should Gov. J.B. Pritzker get his wish with his progressive tax proposal.

“Illinois small businesses are already suffering or have closed permanently because of the COVID-19 response,” Bierly told the Kane County Reporter. “700,000 Illinoisans have lost their jobs this year, and that number continues to rise. The additional tax on small businesses will mean even more people will lose their jobs as owners try to balance their books in such a devastating financial crisis.”

Running against Democrat John Connor in the 43rd District, Bierly doesn’t mince words in castigating the governor’s signature proposal as a threat to the state’s financial future.

A new Illinois Policy Institute analysis projects that small businesses across the state soon could be forced to pay as much as a 50.3% marginal income tax rate should the tax appearing on the Nov. 3 ballot in the form of a referendum question garner the support it needs for passage. Ignoring growing warnings from many that the tax stands to handcuff small business owners even more, the governor continues to push his signature proposal as one that will only mean higher tax rates for the state’s most affluent residents.

At around 60% of net job creation, small business owners currently rank as the state’s biggest job creators. But those numbers could soon be on the decline, with researchers finding an increase in the top marginal tax rate could mean a slide in the hiring practices of entrepreneurs and slumping earnings for workers.

Bierly argues all of that is coming on the heels of a coronavirus lockdown that has been more restrictive than it needed to be.  

“It’s clear to most people that the COVID-19 response has been entirely political since May 1st,” he said. “I firmly believe the Democrat elite saw this crisis as an opportunity to maintain power in Illinois and to gain power through the rest of the country. By forcing an economic crisis on America, Democrats believed they could hurt President (Donald) Trump’s chances for re-election.”

In the end, Bierly said Pritzker could easily be accused of engaging in false advertisement in terms of what he thinks the tax will mean and the way the governor has sold it to voters.

“The progressive tax is a Trojan horse to increase our already tyrannical tax burden on a decreasing and ever poorer society,” he said. “The progressive elites of the Democrat party are salivating at the chance to tax retirement and have said as much. There is also no guarantee that the middle and lower classes won’t see increased taxes as well. This is not what We the People need. We need strong leaders who will work to fix our problems rather than to make themselves rich while making everyone else poor.”