1) Will Illinois Be the Worst State in the Nation? On the ballot in Illinois next week is Governor JB Pritzker’s constitutional amendment to eliminate the state’s flat tax and raise the highest tax rate to 8 percent. The corporate tax rate would rise to nearly 11 percent. A new study by CTUP founders Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore, and CTUP economist Erwin Antoni for the Illinois-based Heartland Institute estimates disastrous results if passed:
Net migration to Illinois (people from other states moving TO Illinois minus the number of people moving OUT of Illinois would be negative 1.4 million fewer residents over the next decade due to the tax.
500,000 lost jobs over the next 10 years.
Illinois’ Gross State Product (GSP) would grow by $20.5 billion less over the next decade.
Home revenues and property values fall by 10 percent as residents flee the state.
Illinois’ economic competitive position among the 50 states would fall from 47th in the nation to 49th in the widely acclaimed ALEC-Laffer competitiveness index. Illinois would move from having the 16thlowest personal income tax rate in the nation to the 9th highest. Illinois’ corporate income tax would also become the 7th highest rate in the nation.
