Tag: Fair Tax

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Nathan Reitz Must Follow Jerry Costello’s Lead and Oppose the Graduated Income Tax

One of the last votes Nathan Reitz’s father, former State Rep. Dan Reitz, took was Madigan’s 2011 tax hike; now, Pritzker and Madigan want Nathan Reitz’s first vote to be yet another tax hike


“The fix is in. One of the last votes Nathan Reitz’s father, former State Rep. Dan Reitz, took was Mike Madigan’s 2011 tax hike. Now, Pritzker and Madigan want one of the first votes of Nathan Reitz to be yet another tax hike on Illinois families and small businesses. Tax-hiking is the Reitz family business. Reitz must follow Jerry Costello’s lead and oppose the Pritzker-Madigan-backed graduated income tax. If Reitz supports the tax hike, voters and taxpayers will make Reitz’s tenure in the General Assembly a short one.” – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider


Moments ago, Democratic county chairmen in the 116th House District voted to appoint Nathan Reitz, son of former State Rep. Dan Reitz, to the vacancy created by former State Rep. Jerry Costello’s resignation. Costello resigned to take an appointment from Governor J.B. Pritzker in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

J.B. Pritzker and Mike Madigan are looking for a vote in support of their tax-hiking agenda, and they think Nathan Reitz is their guy. One of the very first votes Reitz may take before the end of May is on a constitutional amendment to repeal Illinois’ flat income tax and authorize a graduated income tax. Jerry Costello was one of the first Democrats in the Illinois House of Representatives to oppose the graduated income tax.

Unfortunately, tax-hiking is the Reitz family business. One of the very last votes Nathan Reitz’s father, former State Rep. Dan Reitz, took was Mike Madigan’s 2011 tax hike. After voting for Madigan’s tax hike, Dan Reitz decided he would rather not seek re-election than face voters the following November. The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board published an editorial in 2012 on “tax-hiker” Dan Reitz and others for pushing false premises for the income tax hike.

Now, Pritzker and Madigan want one of Nathan Reitz’s first votes to be yet another tax hike on Illinois families and small businesses. Nathan Reitz must follow Jerry Costello’s lead and oppose the graduated income tax and all associated legislation. If Reitz supports the Pritzker-Madigan tax hike, voters and taxpayers will make Reitz’s tenure in the General Assembly a short one.

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ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider Statement On Illinois Senate Democrats’ Tax Hike Vote

Moments ago, Illinois Senate Democrats voted unanimously to put a referendum before Illinois voters in the 2020 General Election which, if passed, would repeal the flat income tax provision in the state constitution. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response:

“Today’s vote from Senate Democrats empowers J.B. Pritzker, Mike Madigan, and the Democrats in power to raise taxes and spend more instead of passing the economic reforms our state desperately needs. Giving politicians like Pritzker and Madigan a blank check to raise taxes will only make our state’s problems worse. Higher taxes, more borrowing, and increased spending – that is all Illinois Democrats have to offer, and taxpayers can’t afford it. They refuse to change, and we will make sure voters hold them accountable for it.”

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ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider Responds To J.B. Pritzker’s Proposed Constitutional Language For Graduated Income Tax

Moments ago, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers released proposed constitutional amendment language to enact a graduated income tax. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider Released the following statement in response:

“Governor J.B. Pritzker is a tax-hiking hypocrite. He’s pushing an indefinite number of tax hikes on Illinois families and businesses, yet he dodged hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes on his own Chicago mansion. An independent watchdog called Pritzker’s property tax dodge a ‘scheme to defraud.’ And we all know how Pritzker offshores his business interests in the Bahamas to dodge taxes. That only scratches the surface of Pritzker’s tax-dodging schemes. When J.B. Pritzker pays his fair share, then he can sincerely ask Illinoisans to pay more. Until then, he should stop pushing tax hikes.”

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Two Weeks Into His Jobs Tax Proposal, Pritzker Already Breaks His Promise To Middle Class Families

Pritzker’s change in rhetoric is the first sign that his jobs tax is a blank check for Pritzker and Madigan to raise taxes on everyone

“It’s been two short weeks since J.B. Pritzker unveiled his jobs tax, and he has already broken his promise to middle class families. Pritzker called his plan ‘tax relief’ for the middle class, but now he says it’s ‘not…an income tax increase.’ Tomorrow it will be a tax hike on all Illinoisans.

“Pritzker’s change in rhetoric is further proof that his jobs tax proposal is nothing more than a blank check for Pritzker and Madigan to raise taxes on anyone, at any time, for any reason. J.B. Pritzker and Mike Madigan cannot be trusted with a blank check to spend more of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot

Think Big Illinois, a dark money political front group backed by Pritzker, is out with its first TV ad highlighting Pritzker’s jobs tax. The ad says, “97% of Illinoisans WILL NOT see an income tax increase.”

Barely two weeks into his tax hike plan, Pritzker has already broken his promise to middle class families.

When Governor J.B. Pritzker announced his plan to raise taxes on Illinois families and small businesses, he spuriously claimed that 97% of Illinoisans will see “tax relief” under his plan.

Pritzker’s change in rhetoric is further proof that his jobs tax proposal is nothing more than a blank check for Pritzker and Madigan to raise taxes on anyone, at any time, for any reason.

First, Pritzker’s plan was “tax relief.” Now, it’s “not…an income tax increase.” What will Pritzker’s plan be tomorrow? A tax hike on everyone.

Unless Pritzker and Madigan are putting their tax rates into the constitution, voters will not actually be voting on Pritzker’s proposed tax rates in his so-called ‘fair tax’ plan. They will be voting on whether or not Pritzker and Madigan should have a blank check to raise tax rates to any level they want.

We all know Springfield politicians have squandered taxpayer dollars for decades. J.B. Pritzker and Mike Madigan cannot be trusted with a blank check to spend even more of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

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J.B. Pritzker Should Domesticate His Overseas Holdings In Illinois And Subject Them To Higher Tax Rates He Proposed

ILGOP Chairman Schneider: “As one of Illinois’ richest residents and leading tax hike proponents, it’s time for Gov. Pritzker to pay his fair share”

“It’s time to end Governor Pritzker’s tax hypocrisy. Pritzker says he ‘chooses fairness’ when it comes to raising taxes, yet Pritzker is the beneficiary of many overseas holdings that allow him to dodge untold millions in state and federal taxes. If Pritzker truly believes that rich people such as himself have an obligation to pay more in taxes to the State of Illinois, Pritzker should take the first step and domesticate his overseas holdings in Illinois so they would be subject to the higher tax rates he has proposed for the people of Illinois.

“As one of Illinois’ richest residents and leading tax hike proponents, it’s time for Governor Pritzker to pay his fair share, before expecting Illinois taxpayers to pay more. Tax fairness should start with our governor.” – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider

Last week, Governor J.B. Pritzker finally released the specific tax rates of his plan to raise taxes on Illinois families and businesses. When you factor in the Personal Property Replacement Tax, Pritzker’s tax hike plan will hit corporations and trusts domiciled in the state of Illinois with a 10.45% and 9.45% tax rate, respectively, making it “one of the highest in the nation.”

During the course of last year’s gubernatorial campaign, Illinois voters learned that Pritzker is the beneficiary of many overseas trusts based in the Bahamas and Cayman Islands. Those trusts are not subject to taxes. Pritzker attempted to skirt the topic by saying there was nothing he could do about the trusts set up by his grandfather in the 1960s, and that all of his money from those trusts go to his charitable foundation.

But a Chicago Tribune investigated found that Pritzker himself utilizes overseas tax havens for his personal business ventures. Several overseas shell corporations were set up by Pritzker and his associates between 2008 and 2011. According to the Tribune, those corporations “are either wholly owned by J.B. Pritzker, his brother and business partner Anthony Pritzker, or list other close associates as controlling executives.”

All told, the Tribune found “35 offshore and domestic trusts and shell companies tied to Pritzker on top of the dozen offshore investment funds.”

Financial experts told the Tribune that the investment tactics used by Pritzker helped him maintain the secrecy of his overseas holdings while minimizing the tax liability.

When the investigation broke, Pritzker tax hike supporter Dan Biss said “J.B. Pritzker set up companies offshore, probably to avoid taxes and spent the entire past year lying about it.”

In 2008, The New York Times said the Pritzker family were “pioneers in using tax loopholes to shelter their holdings from the internal revenue service.” And J.B. Pritzker’s sister, Penny Pritzker, became the subject of media scrutiny after some of her overseas holdings were revealed in the Paradise Papers.

If Pritzker truly believes that rich people such as himself have an obligation to pay more in taxes to the State of Illinois, Pritzker should take the first step and domesticate his overseas holdings in Illinois so they would be subject to the higher tax rates he has proposed for the people of Illinois.

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