Illinois House Defers Millionaires Tax to 2028 While Advancing Voting Rights Amendment

The Illinois House failed to pass a millionaire tax amendment this week, leaving the proposal at least until 2028, while simultaneously advancing a voting rights amendment that would protect redistricting rules from federal changes.

House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch did not call for a vote on the constitutional amendment because it did not have the required supermajority support. The tax would have imposed a 3 percent surcharge on personal income exceeding $1 million, with revenue split between property tax relief and public schools.

Rep. La Shawn Ford, the chief sponsor of the measure, said the proposal would have generated about $4 billion annually. However, the amendment needed 71 votes in the House, and Welch said they were very close but did not have enough support.

Welch told reporters that more work needs to be done on the proposal. The next deadline for constitutional amendments is in early May 2028.

Meanwhile, the House passed a redistricting amendment that would place parts of the federal Voting Rights Act into state law. The amendment would prevent legislative or congressional districts from being drawn to discriminate based on race or create excessively compact voter populations.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said the opposition to the millionaire tax was about government mismanagement, not tax policy. He argued that solutions should focus on discipline, reform and accountability.

The redistricting amendment now goes to the Senate, where it must also pass with supermajority support to appear on the November ballot.

Democratic supporters of the redistricting measure said it protects minority representation in the legislature. House Speaker Welch sponsored the amendment and said the state refuses to go back on protecting minority districts.

The amendment would require that Illinois legislative districts be equal in population, provide equal opportunity regardless of race, have districts with racial minority influence, and be contiguous and compact.

The proposal comes as fears grow that the U.S. Supreme Court might strike down sections of the federal Voting Rights Act in a case heard late last year.

A nonbinding advisory question asking whether there should be a 3 percent tax on income exceeding $1 million passed with 60 percent of the vote in 2024.

The measure would apply to about 32,000 tax filers in Illinois, according to state figures.

Governor JB Pritzker has not pushed for the amendment this year, though he has supported the concept of a graduated income tax more broadly.

The House also passed the redistricting amendment 74 to 38 earlier Wednesday.