House Speaker backs millionaires tax, but Democrats split over how much to devote to property tax relief

Illinois House Speaker “Chris” Welch is endorsing a proposed 3% tax on those making more than $1 million annually, but there is a split among House Democrats on how much of the potential $4.5 billion yearly windfall should fund property tax relief.

On the table are two competing measures that would put the question of a so-called millionaires tax on the November ballot as an amendment to the Illinois constitution.

One of the proposed amendments offered by state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, would allocate all of the funds toward property tax relief in the form of $1,500 rebates per property owner.

A competing plan by state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, would allocate half of the millionaires tax’s proceeds to public schools and the rest toward property tax relief.

Neither bill has been put to a House vote as lawmakers barrel toward a May 3 deadline to get constitutional amendment proposals passed in order to be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

In an interview with WBEZ, the speaker did not endorse either plan, saying there are “lots of conversations still being had.” But he made his backing of a millionaires tax crystal clear.

“I'm a big supporter of the fact that those who can pay more should pay more,” Welch said. “If we can come to some type of consensus on how to get it done and where the money should go, I want to be a part of that.”

Gov. JB Pritzker is also in support of the concept of an additional income tax on the state’s highest earners. In 2020, Pritzker poured millions of his own fortune into a campaign to amend the state constitution to establish a graduated income tax, but the initiative failed.

“To pay the bills of the state of Illinois, it's fairer if the wealthiest people in the state and the wealthiest corporations in the state pay more than average folks, working folks, and the most vulnerable,” Pritzker said at a press conference earlier this year.

With both Manley and Ford’s amendments, net income in excess of $1 million would be assessed with the new 3% tax. In the case of Pritzker, who with his wife MK Pritzker reported a net income of $10.3 million on his 2024 tax returns, the billionaire governor would have to pay an additional $280,375.

The scourge of rising property taxes is a potent electoral issue, underscoring how a fall ballot initiative built around property tax relief could offer political dividends for Democrats. A March analysis by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas found that property tax bills rose at twice the rate of inflation for the past 30 years in Chicago and suburban Cook County.

While affordability became the buzz word for candidates on the campaign trail during the March primaries, Welch has also made it a centerpiece for the spring legislative session in Springfield.

Welch said a millionaires tax is a “reasonable” way to address what he calls an affordability crisis for Illinois residents — in addition to paying down the state’s pension debt and funding historically underfunded school districts.

“If we give our schools more, maybe we can pass legislation that restricts how high they can raise their property tax levies,” Welch said.

It’s an idea Manley also had in mind when she filed her constitutional amendment last year.

“I want our schools to be the gold standard, and I don’t want to leave our schools behind in all of this,” Manley said.

Ford, meanwhile, said he would work hard to lobby the leader of his Democratic caucus on a plan that, as of now, leaves out school funding.

“We have to keep pushing for him to see that property tax relief is probably going to have the best impact for families,” Ford said.

Getting a millionaires tax codified into the state constitution has been a 12-year-saga, with former Gov. Pat Quinn at the center of it.

Illinois voters twice approved a nonbinding ballot measure in November 2014 and again in 2024, recommending the General Assembly impose an additional 3% income tax on those who make a million dollars or more annually.

However, the Democratic-controlled legislature failed to adopt the recommendations during three spring legislative sessions.

Quinn is throwing his weight behind Ford, who has also won the Democratic nomination to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis.

“The voters told the legislature and the governor what the people wanted in 2024,” Quinn said. “You don't want to turn your back on the voters and say… especially now where there’s an affordability issue all across Illinois.”