To the Editor:
Since taking office, JD Pritzker has instituted 24 tax and fee hikes costing taxpayers $5.2 billion, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Now, the governor is asking taxpayers to vote for a proposed amendment to the 1970 Illinois Constitution called Amendment One. Amendment One includes two major changes, neither of which benefits Illinois taxpayers. The first change is a tax increase on all residents for the next four years. Illinois already has the second highest taxes in the country.
The second change involves the bargaining power and benefits given to government and union leadership. The unions and the governor will be given unprecedented legal clout. The legislature, on the other hand, would play a lesser role in spending and policy making.
Using the Illinois Constitution, instead of the the Illinois legislature, will make it nearly impossible to change this amendment in the future. Remember how the Illinois teachers pension plan was added to the Illinois Constitution? To this day, our state is indebted to this underfunded pension plan, and we are all paying a heavy price through high taxes.
Now, rather than pension plan reform, the governor wants to add this new amendment into the Constitution, setting it in legal concrete. This could only make a bad situation worse. If you want to help yourself and your neighbors, please do not vote for Amendment One.
Susan Brambert Shields
Oswego
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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