Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote/Term of the Week

Flat tax / noun

When all taxable income is subject to the same tax rate, regardless of income level or assets.

Ex: Illinois income tax is a flat tax. A wealth tax, or “millionaires tax” usually places an additional income tax on the wealthiest residents to generate money  for local social services.

So… that’s a no?

The latest attempt to increase taxes for the state’s wealthiest residents looks to have stalled. 

The proposed wealth tax, or “millionaires tax,” would implement an additional 3% income tax on those making more than $1 million annually. But Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, opted to not bring the proposal to a vote in Springfield last week and may run out of time to do so.  

Under the Illinois constitution, taxpayers pay a 4.95% flat rate, so voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment in order to tax millionaires more.

At least 60% of legislators would have to approve the amendment by May 3 to put the question on the November ballot for voters to weigh in.  House members are not scheduled to reconvene until after that deadline.

Welch says taxing the state’s wealthy is a priority for him and other progressives, but the proposal doesn’t have the numbers to meet the required supermajority vote.

A recent study from researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and University of Illinois dove into what this kind of tax policy might mean. They concluded it could generate $3.8 billion in its first full year and $4.2 billion by 2030. The study also notes that it would affect 41,000 taxpayers in Illinois — around 0.6% of Illinoisans who pay taxes — and that similar taxes have allowed other states to invest more in public education and infrastructure. 

The study also explored three key ideas of what Illinois could do with the added revenue, including property tax relief, fully funding public schools using evidence-based funding, or freezing school property taxes and providing more money for education.

The next deadline for legislative approval for constitutional amendments is not until May 2028, so it may be a while before legislators revisit the issue. 

What you can do:

Contact your state representative: Click here to find your state representative and let them know your thoughts on the millionaires tax in Illinois.

A version of this story was first published in the April 29, 2026 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.