The fight over Pritzker’s tax plan has hit TV. Could it become Illinois’ most expensive ballot push?

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveils his graduated-rate income tax plan during a March 7, 2019, news conference at the Capitol in Springfield. (Justin L. Fowler/State Journal-Register)

The early battle over whether the state and its voters should adopt a graduated-rate income tax system advanced to another level Thursday with a TV ad from proponents and a new digital ad from opponents — each using familiar political targets: former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Think Big Illinois, a group backed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is pressing for the graduated tax to replace the state’s current flat-rate income tax, was first on the TV airwaves and cable with a half-minute ad defending the change and the potential to raise billions from people with higher incomes.


At the same time, Ideas Illinois, a group chaired by the former head of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, launched an 81-second digital ad on social media criticizing the effort and contending the new income tax would be a blank check for Illinois Democrats who control state government.

Both sides previously have aired digital ads.

But the process to change the constitution is complicated. It would take a three-fifths majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot. The same majority of voters would be required to approve it to make it part of the constitution. Democrats currently have those majorities in the House and Senate, though legislative approval is not automatic — let alone voter ratification.

That makes it likely that if the proposed constitutional amendment comes before voters in 2020, it could become the most expensive ballot proposition in state history.

The TV ad from the supportive Think Big Illinois group follows up on Pritzker’s recently released proposed tax rates, under which he contends 97 percent of taxpayers would see a decline in taxes and that only those earning more than $250,000 a year would pay more.

“There’s a $3.2 billion hole in Springfield. And after years of ignoring it, we can’t keep doing more of the same,” an announcer says as a photo of Rauner, defeated by Pritzker in November, appears in the background.

“The governor’s fair tax puts the middle class first, while making the wealthy pay their fair share,” the announcer says. Think Big Illinois is a tax-exempt group that said it will report its donors when it’s required to file documents with the IRS.

Think Big Illinois officials declined to describe the amount of their broadcast TV buy. But records show the group is spending more than $105,000 on statewide cable on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, as well as the Hallmark Channel and HGTV, the home and garden channel.

Records show that all but $11,000 of the cable buy is being spent in the Chicago market.

The Ideas Illinois ad features several photos of Pritzker and Madigan, the nation’s longest-serving state House speaker. Polls have found Madigan extremely unpopular statewide, and he was the subject of millions of dollars of attack ads statewide funded by Rauner during two campaigns for governor and ads for GOP legislative candidates.

“There’s a debate going on about Illinois’ tax system. The latest sales pitch from Springfield insiders? Pritzker and Madigan want to change the constitution to allow a permanent jobs tax on middle-class families,” an announcer says.

“‘Trust us,’ they say. ‘We’ll use your money to fund our schools, fix our roads, shore up pensions and cut property taxes. Do you trust them?” the announcer asks, citing past income tax hikes.

Noting that the exact tax rates would not be enshrined in the state constitution but would be a matter of state law, the ad says the proposed amendment “won’t say how much you’ll pay — a blank check for Springfield.”


Ideas Illinois is also a tax-exempt organization but is not releasing the names of its donors.

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