CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch wants to try again for a graduated income tax. He feels making clear where the money goes will help the cause.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected the graduated income tax last November, but the Speaker said during a virtual appearance hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, the state should try again, this time tying the money to paying down pension debt.
"A big way of addressing it is certainly by revisiting the referendum that failed this past November to change our flat tax to a progressive tax, but we have to tell the voters what we are going to do with that money. I certainly think tying that new revenue to pensions would be a winner. People want to know what you are going to do with the money," Welch said.
He said he’s a firm believer that the rich should pay their fair share.
"We are one of seven states that tax folks on a flat rate. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that's a structural change that we need and sometimes you fail the first time out. Get back up and try and try again. That's how I've always done things, and so I do think that we should probably revisit that at some point. I am also a firm believer that the rich should pair their fair share," Welch said.
Under the graduated tax plan that was rejected by voters, the state would have brought in an estimated $3.6 billion a year.
The unfunded pension liabilities are more than $140-billion.
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