Illinois’ Democrat Governor, JB Pritzker, spoke out Thursday against a fellow Democrat’s proposal to inflict a so-called “head tax” on employers in Chicago.
At an unrelated press event, Gov. Pritzker took the opportunity to warn that the head tax Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson slipped into his spending package will discourage employers from hiring - and cost the city revenue in the process:
“I do not think that is a great way to provide revenue for the city, and here’s why: It sends a signal. It’s just the most direct signal to employers: Don’t hire more people.”
Mayor Johnson’s head tax would impose a $25 monthly tax on each employee of companies with at least 125 workers.
“What we really want is to make sure that more people get hired and then, by the way, that provides tax revenue, that very thing,” Gov. Pritzker explained. “We have income taxes in the state, and people will move to Illinois or live in Chicago.”
Johnson’s proposal also seeks to coerce employers to relocate to areas that the city deems to be “economically disadvantaged,” The Chicago Tribune reports:
“Companies would get a tax credit if the jobs are located within economically disadvantaged regions designated by a city formula that mostly covers the South, Southwest and West sides. A copy of the revenue ordinance says the employee must spend ‘the majority of scheduled work hours in any given calendar month’ at those locations for the company to get the full $25 rebate.”
Gov. Pritzker hasn’t always been so tax-adverse, however. During his two terms in office, the Democrat governor has doubled the state’s gas tax and approved at least 63 tax and fee increases.
And, earlier this year, Gov. Pritzker paused data center tax incentives that had been in place as part of bipartisan legislation he signed during his first year in office. As a result, the state’s data centers lost nearly $200 million of annual tax benefits, or more than $7 million per center.
Notably, Gov. Pritzker is running for reelection this year.
Mayor Johnson is not.
