RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, in the upcoming General Election on November 3, 2020 Illinois voters will be asked to vote on a proposed amendment to Section 3 of Article IX of the Illinois Constitution, colloquially known as the "Fair Tax;" and,
WHEREAS, the Fair Tax amendment will allow the State of Illinois to impose a graduated marginal income tax on residents for the first time, as opposed to a regressive flat income tax; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois has the eighth most regressive tax systems in the nation, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP); and,
WHEREAS, an ITEP report found that lllinois's flat tax exacerbates income inequality and worsens the racial wealth gap, and that the compounding effects of years of a flat income tax has enriched wealthy, mostly white lllinoisans, by tens of billions while stripping billions from Black and Hispanic communities; and
WHEREAS, under the tax brackets approved by the Illinois legislature, the Fair Tax will amount to a tax increase for 3% of the population whose income is above $250,000 per year, while the remaining 97% of the population will pay the same or less in taxes;
WHEREAS, the Fair Tax is estimated to generate upwards of $3 billion in revenue that will fund schools and other social services that are desperately needed in the City of Chicago and across the state;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez - 25th Ward
Sponsors - TBD
The members ofthe Chicago City Council shall support the passage ofthe "Fair Tax" constitutional amendment to allow for a graduated income tax in Illinois.
