By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday highlighted results from the Nov. 3 election showing that 80 percent of Chicago voters backed advisory ballot questions calling for a statewide millionaires tax, with additional measures drawing strong support for corporate taxes and expanded mental health services.
The results signal the administration’s likely direction heading into the next budget cycle, as Johnson has proposed an Equitable Employer Tax projected to raise more than $112 million by taxing companies with more than 125 employees.
Two advisory ballot questions asked whether Illinois should impose a 3 percent income tax surcharge on residents earning more than $1 million per year, with half the revenue directed toward property tax relief and half toward public education. More than 80 percent of voters supported both measures, according to unofficial results cited in the mayor’s statement.
“From Texas to Michigan, from North Lawndale to Rogers Park, the message voters sent yesterday was unmistakable — working people want leaders who put their values and their interests ahead of corporate greed,” Johnson said in a statement from the mayor’s office. “The people of Chicago have spoken, and it is our responsibility as elected leaders to listen and act.”
The millionaires tax is a nonbinding advisory question and cannot take effect without action from the Illinois General Assembly. State lawmakers declined in June to put the question before voters statewide, according to published reports. The Cook County Board of Commissioners subsequently added the question to all ballots countywide, and more than 71 percent of suburban Cook County voters also expressed support, according to unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s office cited by WTTW News.
In select precincts in the 5th, 8th, 21st and 24th wards, 88.2 percent of the 3,785 voters who participated supported an advisory question asking whether corporations with 500 or more employees should be taxed to fund youth employment, public mental health care and violence prevention services, according to the mayor’s statement. Support exceeded 85 percent in every reporting precinct, reaching as high as 93.3 percent in the 21st Ward’s 25th Precinct.
Voters in select precincts also expressed support for expanded mental health services, with 84.2 percent of 88,793 participating residents voting in favor, according to the mayor’s statement. Support reached 85.6 percent in Mid-North Side precincts and 82.3 percent on the Far Southwest Side.
Johnson’s statement said his budget proposal would expand upon the city’s mental health efforts by reopening another mental health clinic and providing permanent funding to the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement alternative response program, which the mayor expanded citywide earlier this year, according to the release.
An additional advisory question asked whether the city should pursue all legal means to recover compensation from the federal government for economic harm caused by the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. More than 85 percent of voters supported the measure, according to the mayor’s statement.
Johnson has championed progressive revenue measures while advancing a property tax relief pilot benefiting residents in communities on the South and West Sides, according to the release.
When state lawmakers return to Springfield in January at the start of Gov. JB Pritzker’s third term, Democrats will hold expanded supermajorities in both the Illinois House and Senate, according to unofficial results.
