Chicago City Wire

Republican political strategist Chris Robling knows there is a method to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's and Illinois Democrats' madness in their pushing for a progressive income-tax system to replace the current flat-tax structure.

“This is a plan to tax the middle-class to pay for the Democrats’ promises to public employee unions,” Robling told Chicago City Wire. “The unions have been their single largest source of contributions. Now under Prizker, Democrats are trying to pay back the unions for all they’ve done for them with our money.”

Voters get their chance to weigh in on the issue in November when the question of whether the state constitution should be amended to allow lawmakers to make the switch will appear on the ballot. Robling plans to set the record straight about what the tax could mean for Illinois residents, namely by stressing to voters that too few hard details have been shared to take Democrats at their word that only the state’s top earners will pay more.

Republican political strategist Chris Robling

“I can’t see how this doesn’t come back to the middle class,” Robling said.

Robling says that other states' history of failed progressive tax systems does not bode well for Illinois. Revenues in California have been barely half of what was promised, and Connecticut has lost more than $10 billion and 360,000 jobs since switching to a progressive income-tax rate.

“There’s no question more people in Illinois will end up voting with their feet if this thing passes," Robling said. "The outmigration you’ve seen will be nothing compared to what’s coming.”