* Greg Hinz…

“There are only a handful of states—Illinois is one of them—that still have the flat tax,” [Rep. Lou Lang] said. “We haven’t seen people leave Silicon Valley” (California has a top tax rate of 13.3 percent) for Nevada, which has no state income tax, he added.

But business flight from a state that already suffers from economic woes is exactly what some business groups are predicting.

“The vast majority of small-business owners pay taxes not at the corporate rate but as individuals,” Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch said in a statement, “Any effort to ‘gouge the rich’ is actually putting a target squarely on the backs of small businesses, the very entities we count on to provide the majority of new jobs.”

Not so, retorted Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, who is sponsoring the graduated-tax package in the Senate. Any business owner who reports income of under roughly $750,000 a year would pay less than they pay now, he said. “If you earn more than $750,000 at the end of the year, put it in your pocket, perhaps you’re not so small anymore.”

* In other news, proponents have released the results of a poll taken in January…

If the election were held today, would you vote yes in favor of the following Constitutional amendment or no to oppose it?

“Upon approval of the voters, the proposed Constitutional amendment would allow the state to establish higher tax rates for higher income levels and lower tax rates for lower income levels.”

Total Yes 71%
Total No 27%
Don’t Know/No Answer 2%
Support – Oppose +44

* More…

A recent Tulchin Research survey of 700 likely November 2016 voters in Illinois finds encouraging news for supporters of the proposed “Fair Tax” amendment to the state constitution, which would allow Illinois to adopt a progressive income tax. If the election were held today, the “Fair Tax” amendment would receive the support of seven in ten (71 percent) Illinois voters.

Overwhelming, Broad-Based Support for Fair Tax State Constitutional Amendment
After being read a straightforward description of the proposed amendment to the state Constitution, Illinois voters back the measure by a margin of 44 points, with 71 percent of voters saying they would vote “Yes” on the measure to just 27 percent who would vote “No.” Nearly half of voters (48%) indicate they would definitely vote “Yes” on such a measure, far outpacing the intense opposition (18%) and only two percent of voters are undecided, leaving little room for the opposition to maneuver.

Notably, support for the amendment extends across all corners of the state, across the political spectrum, and across gender, ethnic, and generational lines.

• The amendment is supported by 79 percent of voters in Cook County, 70 percent of voters in the collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties), and by 64 percent of voters in Downstate Illinois.
• The amendment attracts support from 93 percent of liberals, 74 percent of moderates, and even 54 percent of conservatives.
• Strong majorities of women (74 percent) and men (68 percent) back the amendment.
• The amendment is supported by 68 percent of white voters, 86 percent of black voters, and 86 percent of Latino voters.
• The amendment attracts comparable support among voters age 18-54 (74 percent) and those ages 55 and over (69 percent).

In the current, highly polarized political environment, it is quite rare to see a policy initiative with support as wide and as deep as this proposed amendment, putting it in a very strong position to win if it is placed on the ballot this November.

In summary, our research finds that Illinois voters strongly support the concept of a progressive income tax. The Fair Tax amendment is very popular with voters across the board and well- positioned to win voter approval should it appear on the November 2016 general election ballot.

Survey Methodology: From January 14-19, 2016, Tulchin Research conducted a telephone survey in Illinois among 700 likely November 2016 voters. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3.7 percentage points.

As Greg notes above, the Democrats will likely need a Republican vote or three in the House to pass the actual amendment, which will require a three-fifths supermajority. Ken Dunkin voted against the millionaire’s tax, as did Jack Franks and Scott Drury. This is a different animal, however, in that it would cut taxes for people outside the 1 percent.

Convincing Republicans to vote for it won’t be an easy task, to say the least, considering the governor is completely and unalterably opposed.

And, man, the 1 percent is gonna fight back hard if this does make it to the ballot. Maisch’s remarks probably foreshadow the fight, in that we’ll likely see overt threats to move businesses to other states.