Rockford Sun

Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) is planning to co-host a town hall meeting today about Gov. J.B Pritzker's so-called "Fair Tax," which one online news outlet calls dishonest.

Sosnowski is expected to co-host with state Rep. John M. Cabello (R-Machesney Park) and state Rep. John Keicher (R-Sycamore) a town hall meeting about the proposed graduated income tax 7:30 to 9 a.m. today at Giovanni’s Restaurant & Convention Center at 610 N. Bell School Road in Rockford, according to information on Sosnowski's state representative website.

"Illinois currently has a flat income tax rate of 4.95 percent for individuals and 7 percent for businesses/corporations," Sosnowski said in the town hall meeting's announcement. "Moving to a graduated income tax would allow politicians in Springfield to set new rates, subject to change at any time."

Featured speakers at the town hall meeting are to include Americans for Prosperity-Illinois Director Andrew Nelms and Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski.

The Illinois General Assembly is expected to take up the graduated income tax proposal when the legislative session resumes Tuesday, April 30.

The Illinois House Republican Caucus has a section on its website for those who want to sign an online petition opposing the graduated income tax.

Sosnowski did not respond to a Rockford Sun request for comment about a Wirepoints article that challenged the honesty of a Pritzker-linked group that said the tax would "fix" the state's fiscal crisis. However, in February, Sosnowski apparently told a local television news station that not all constituents will "be fooled" by the proposed tax.

"Stateline area families are not going to be fooled," Sosnowski was quoted in the television news article. "Moving to a graduated tax would be like handing over a blank check to the government. Enacting a graduated income tax, with rates set by politicians in Springfield and subject to change at any time, would result in a tax hike on middle-income families and hasten the exodus of jobs and opportunity out of Illinois."

Sosnowski has represented the 69th Illinois State House District since 2010.

The 69th Illinois state House District includes portions of Boone and Winnebago counties and all or parts of Belvidere, Caledonia, Capron, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Roscoe, South Beloit and Timberlane.

Pritzker has claimed his Fair Tax plan, which was a major part of his election campaign last year, would create taxation in Illinois that works for all residents, not just the rich. While commercials in favor of the graduated tax began running in March, the real push for the Fair Tax was launched earlier this month over the objections of conservatives in the state legislature.

Think Big Illinois claims that Pritzker's "Fair Tax" plan can "fix our state's $3.2 billion crisis" but a recent Wirepoints article called that claim dishonest and passage of the Fair Tax would dupe Illinoisans "into throwing more money at a doomed effort."

Think Big Illinois' claims under estimates just how large the state financial crisis is, the Wirepoints article, written by the publication's founder, Mark Glennon, said.

"If only the hole indeed were just $3.2 billion," the article said. "Most Illinoisans of any political stripe would probably be happy to pay up and call it a day to fix our fiscal crisis, no matter how the burden was distributed. But it’s preposterous – off by several multiples, depending on exactly what you choose to count."

The annual funding shortfall for only the state’s five pensions comes in at $4.7 billion a year, based on actuarially determined contributions and "on assumptions widely regarded as far too optimistic," the article said.

"But the new tax would raise only $3.4 billion per year (That’s the administration’s claim, though the estimate has been heavily criticized as too optimistic)," the article continued. "In other words, the new tax wouldn’t come close to solving the state’s pension crisis, never mind the hundreds of local pension funds across the state."