Eric Wallace | Contributed photo
Eric Wallace | Contributed photo
Republican state House hopeful Eric Wallace warns that a vote in favor of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive tax is a strike against the state’s general welfare.
“The Illinois tax hike amendment would shut down a majority of small businesses and hinder many small businesses from ever opening,” Wallace told the South Cook News. “It’s like the proverbial killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Illinois would kill off the very thing that provides most of its tax revenue.”
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.
Running against Democrat Patrick Joyce in the 40th District, Wallace argues none of it has to be.
“Springfield should look at ways of loosening restrictive laws, unfunded mandates, minimum wage hikes and costly regulatory enforcement,” he said. “They need to find ways for businesses to stay in business and not go under as well as not leave the state. Increasing a tax burden will not fix our financial crisis.”
Finally, Wallace doesn’t see the tax coming close to achieving what it’s being billed to.
“You can’t tax your way out of this financial hole,” he said. “We need to cut spending, regulation, and remove any impediment to job creation. We actually need to cut taxes to incentivize corporations to stay in Illinois and for new ones to relocate here. Add fixing the pension problems and Illinois will start to naturally grow its way out of debt.”
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