Graduated income tax advocates concede defeat, say opponents ‘must answer for whatever comes next’

The amendment needed a “yes” vote from a majority of all people voting in Tuesday’s election or 60% of people who specifically voted on the amendment. 

The group aiming to pass Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed constitutional amendment to allow a graduated income tax conceded defeat Wednesday but said “opponents must answer for whatever comes next.”

The concession came from Quentin Fulks, chairman of the Vote Yes For Fairness campaign. Incomplete election results showed 55% of Illinoisans voting against the amendment, and 45% voting in favor with 97.6% of precincts reporting. State election officials said Tuesday there could be as many as 400,000 outstanding mail-in ballots.

The amendment needed a “yes” vote from a majority of all people voting in Tuesday’s election or 60% of people who specifically voted on the amendment.

“We are undoubtedly disappointed with this result but are proud of the millions of Illinoisans who cast their ballots in support of tax fairness in this election,” Fulks said in his statement. “Illinois is in a massive budget crisis due to years of a tax system that has protected millionaires and billionaires at the expense of our working families, a crisis that was only made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Republican legislators and their billionaire allies who brought us the dysfunction and pain of the (ex-Gov. Bruce) Rauner years continue to stand in the way of commonsense solutions, choosing instead to play partisan games and deceive the working families of our state. Now lawmakers must address a multibillion dollar budget gap without the ability to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share. Fair Tax opponents must answer for whatever comes next.”

The Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment declared victory on the issue late Tuesday night.

“When all the votes are counted, we believe there will be more ‘no’ votes than ‘yes’ votes, and that will be a win for small business owners, middle-class families, family farmers, retirees, and large employers,” spokeswoman Lissa Druss said in a statement. “In this election, Illinois voters sent a resounding message that with an $8 billion deficit and two massive tax hikes in the last ten years, we cannot trust Springfield politicians with another tax hike.”