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Todd Maisch
President & CEO
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
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May 11, 2018
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce protects business interests by working to fight excessive taxation, onerous regulations, rising healthcare costs, frivolous lawsuits and all-around bad policies. Similarly, we are adamant advocates of maintaining all the positive assets Illinois has to offer.
This week we heavily weighed in on two issues in the media: defeating a graduated income tax and highlighting the need for Illinois' vocational education programs and skilled trades training.
Read the below text on our views on the issues featured in the
State Journal-Register
and the
Daily Herald
this week.
Graduated Income Tax
Wrong
for Job C
reation
and Taxpayers
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce finds it ironic that a liberal think tank picked National Small Business Week to roll out a one-sided fairy tale report about the "benefits" of a graduated income tax for Illinois. Small businesses employ more than one half of Illinoisans and Americans. Yet, those who want to spend other peoples' money are frustratingly ignorant of the fact that higher taxes on small businesses will create fewer jobs, and minimize economic opportunity and revenue for the state.
Illinois cannot fix its fiscal problems by simply pointing at small business owners and saying, "You pay the tab!" This mindset is two things - worn out and disproven. Proponents of a graduated income tax ignore the warnings of even liberal Democrats on the folly of soaking the "rich".
Connecticut Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy, who pushed for two rounds of tax increases on high earners, admits it does not work in generating consistent revenue. "The reality is that in Connecticut we get most of our money from very few people and that can produce some very wild swings," Gov. Malloy
said. After the last tax increase on small businesses, Connecticut saw 2,050 tax filers who earned $200,000 or more leave the state. The net result: A loss of $2.5 billion of adjusted gross income.
If middle class taxpayers think they will avoid higher taxes once a graduated tax arrives, they are likely to get a very unwelcome surprise. Even the most aggressive tax increase plan that tax and spenders are willing to admit to raises only $2 billion, not even one fourth of the current backlog of the state's unpaid bills.
Read the full piece here.
It's Time to Reevaluate Vocational and Skilled
Trades Training
With the nation's unemployment rate continuing to drop, labor markets are in an ever-tightening vice, and Illinois employers are feeling the pain as they try to fill middle-skill jobs. There is a misguided belief that the skills gap exclusively hits at the top end of the labor market, in fields such as professional services, engineering or computer sciences.
While there are critical shortages across many industries, the reality is that Illinois employers struggle most to find qualified employees in fields that require more than a high school diploma, but also certifications and skills not provided by a two or four-year college program.
As a result of this misconception, resources are being diverted away from vocational programs in our high schools, and soon-to-be graduates are being directed away from high quality technical education programs, simply because they aren't part of the traditional college track.
The reality is there are great careers available in the skilled trades, but not enough people with the right training and skills to fill them.
Read the full piece
here
.
Illinois' economic promise is great and we look forward to defeating bad policies inhibiting our job creators and supporting initiatives that set the business community up for success.
Sincerely,
Todd Maisch
President and CEO
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
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