Make tax fairness a priority for Illinois families

Perhaps nowhere is April 15 -- Tax Day -- tougher on low-income families than in Illinois. As an overall percentage of their earnings, struggling families often pay twice as much as wealthier households do on state and local taxes combined. In fact, national tax experts have called ours one of the most regressive revenue systems in the country.

The Center for Economic Progress strongly endorses Governor Pat Quinn’s effort to offer tax relief to Illinois families.  He's proposed simultaneously increasing the income tax's standard exemption to not only shield low- and moderate-income families from increased taxes, but cut their taxes below unfairly high levels that exist today.

It's also important to remember a time-honored policy tool for improving tax fairness, one that has bipartisan support and targets direct relief to the families who need it most -- the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Though the federal EITC provides low-income, working families with a a well-deserved break on their taxes, the Illinois EITC, worth a maximum of $240, is the second smallest state EITC.

View the Center's position statement.

Read the Letter to the Editor that appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

Mary Ruth Herbers of the Center for Economic Progress explains the importance of the Illinois EITC during an April 2009 press conference in Springfield.

 

Take action: Ask your Illinois legislators to support Governor Pat Quinn's call for greater tax fairness. Tell them:

• Working families already pay more than their fair share of state and local taxes in Illinois.
• Let's increase the size of the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit, to truly provide working families with the fairness they need and deserve.