Noland leads new millionaires tax charge
Springfield - State Sen. Mike Noland, an Elgin Democrat, has become the top Senate supporter of a plan to ask voters whether millionaires should pay more in income taxes in Illinois.
Noland won initial approval from a Senate committee for the plan to put on the November ballot a question asking whether incomes over $1 million should be subject to an additional 3 percent tax.
An original plan to add the extra tax conceived of by House Speaker Michael Madigan stalled earlier this year, and the plan to ask voters was born.
The question wouldn't carry the weight of law and would only be advisory.
The populist political proposal joins another similar ballot question - whether the state should raise its $8.25-an-hour minimum wage - as potential ways to draw Democrats to the voting booth in November's elections.
Republicans called both plans political ploys and said they could hurt Illinois' economy.
Noland said that wasn't his intent in pushing for the ballot question. His backing of the Madigan initiative came in spite of Noland being the only person to vote against Madigan to chair the state Democratic Party earlier this year.
The full Illinois Senate sent the minimum wage question to Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday for final approval. It asks whether the wage should rise to $10 per hour for workers over age 18.