Reject CTU’s $7.3 Billion Tax Grab

Illinoisans Already Carry a Nation-Leading Burden

Sign The Letter

Dear Official(s),

The Chicago Teachers Union and its allies want nine new or higher taxes that would collect $7.3 billion more each year starting in FY 2026—on top of what Illinoisans already pay.

Illinois families and employers can’t afford it:
- Highest overall state-and-local tax burden – 16.5 % of household income (≈ $13,099 per median household).
- Highest cell-phone taxes—22.96 % on every wireless bill.
- 2nd-highest property-tax rate—1.95 % effective.
- 2nd-highest gas taxes—84 ¢ per gallon.
- 2nd-highest corporate income-tax rate—9.5 %.
- Chicago’s 10.25 % sales-tax rate—3rd-highest among major U.S. cities.
These layers are already pushing people and payrolls out: Illinois has lost over 420,000 residents to other states since 2020, with high taxes the top reason cited. Adding another multi-billion-dollar hike, the exodus—and revenue loss—will accelerate.

We therefore urge you to:
- Reject the entire CTU tax package.
- Publicly commit to balancing the FY 2026 budget without new taxes.
- Pursue spending discipline and efficiency instead of ever-higher tax burdens.
Illinois cannot tax its way to prosperity. Please stand with families and job creators and vote NO on these tax hike proposals.
The Chicago Teachers Union and its allies want nine new or higher taxes that would collect $7.3 billion more each year starting in FY 2026—on top of what Illinoisans already pay.

Sincerely

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Here are a list of CTU approved take hikes:

Digital-advertising tax ($725 million): Likely passed through to every business that markets online, raising consumer prices.
Worldwide combined reporting ($1.2 billion): Adds extreme complexity, discourages multinationals from locating HQs or jobs here, and may yield less revenue than projected.
Tax offshore “sheltered” income ($200 million): Double-taxes foreign profits and pushes companies to book investment—and payroll—abroad rather than in Illinois.
Carried-interest surtax ($1.5 billion): Targets venture-capital and private-equity returns, shrinking the pool of risk capital for Illinois start-ups and real-estate projects.
Billionaire wealth tax ($840 million): Difficult to administer, constitutionally shaky, and linked to capital flight in countries that tried it and later repealed it
7 % capital-gains excise ($1.7 billion): Punishes long-term savers and retirees; volatile, mobile tax base—Washington State’s 7 % levy faces repeal efforts after just one year.
Raise corporate income-tax rate ($830 million): This would push Illinois’ effective rate past 10 %, cementing one of the highest burdens in the nation and discouraging investment and wage growth.
Close corporate tax loopholes ($175 million): Eliminating “loopholes” raises effective rates on struggling firms. Illinois already has the 2nd highest corporate income tax, closing loopholes should come with a reduction in the corporate income tax rate, not an increase.
Lower estate-tax exemption to $2 million ($150 million): Forces family farms and small businesses to sell assets or leave the state; policy momentum elsewhere is toward raising thresholds, not cutting them.