‘Millionaire tax' amendment won't be on November ballot as Illinois Democrats can't come to agreement

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois Democrats failed Thursday to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would have asked voters in November to impose an additional tax on residents who earn more than $1 million a year, exposing divisions within the party over education funding and dealing a blow to their election-year message on affordability.

The House adjourned without voting on the so-called millionaire's tax resolution, a development that means they will miss a May 3 deadline to place the question on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The House is not scheduled to return to Springfield until May 5.

The proposal for a 3% tax on the portion of individuals' net income exceeding $1 million would have raised an estimated $2.2 billion in additional annual tax revenue, split between property tax relief and public schools. But it collapsed in part over concerns from some Democrats that distributing school funding on a per-pupil basis could undermine Illinois' evidence-based funding formula, a 2017 law designed to deliver more equitable resources to low-income school districts.

State Rep. Will Davis, a Democrat and a sponsor of that funding formula, said it would have been difficult for him to support the millionaire's tax proposal.

"Those of us that kind of understand EBF a little bit have raised that concern about whether or not it ultimately walks back EBF," he said.

Hal Woods, chief of policy at Kids First Chicago, said hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for Chicago schools could have been "transformational," but the measure "was moving so quickly, and there was just a lot of unanswered questions."

State Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat and chief sponsor of the millionaire's tax resolution, said it was "really disappointing" that members of his own party didn't do enough to advance the measure. He said Democrats need to back proposals to provide financial relief for average residents and "be bolder and really take advantage of opportunities" to support constituents.

"We missed an opportunity to be progressive," said Ford, who is also the Democratic nominee for Illinois' 7th Congressional District seat. "You don't see that happening with (President Donald) Trump and these Republicans. When they have the power to do something to help their constituents, they do it."

Speaking to reporters Wednesday night outside his state Capitol office, Democratic House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said he remains a strong supporter of requiring the wealthy to pay more but acknowledged the proposal, while "very close," has complexities.

"What we heard from listening to a lot of people over the last few days is that more work needs to be done," he said. "When this does pass the House, it will pass the Senate, and it will pass the voters' test because when you listen to people and do it right, you build coalitions. And that's what we're going to do when it eventually passes."

The measure had cleared a House committee along party lines Tuesday, but never received a full floor vote. Republicans had raised their own objections, pressing sponsors on how the funds would be distributed - a detail the resolution did not address.

The Chicago Teachers Union, which has been highly vocal at the state Capitol about securing up to $1 billion in additional funding for Chicago Public Schools in recent years, expressed disappointment that the Democratic supermajority in the House couldn't advance the resolution.

"Budgets are documents rooted in morals and math. The Governor and the General Assembly are currently failing at both," CTU Vice President Jackson Potter said in a statement.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a progressive Democrat, said she supported the proposal but acknowledged some problems with the educational funding formula component of it, as well as possible issues with whether the proposal's language did enough to factor in inflation when determining how the millionaire's tax would be applied.

With the millionaire's tax off the table, progressive lawmakers could still push for other ways to raise revenue, with the spring legislative session scheduled to adjourn in a little more than a month. Earlier this year, they revived calls for proposals that included levying a 10% tax on digital advertising revenue from large technology companies, taxing billionaire asset appreciation, closing certain corporate loopholes and preventing multinational corporations from shifting profits to tax havens.

Forty state lawmakers have also formed a group called the Affordability and Tax Justice Coalition with the goal to fix Illinois' tax system to help working- and middle-class Illinoisans and encourage greater revenue stability as the Trump administration threatens massive funding cuts to the state.

Meanwhile, the business community lobbied against the millionaire's tax resolution with groups like the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, which raised concerns about how such a tax could have hurt small businesses.

A nonbinding advisory question asking whether there should be a 3% tax on income exceeding $1 million for property tax relief won with 60% of the vote in 2024.

While billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker, who is running for a third term and is eyeing a potential 2028 presidential run, has made affordability a centerpiece of his agenda this year, he didn't forcefully get behind the millionaire's tax amendment as part of it.

(Olander reported from Chicago.)

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 5:44 PM.