The Illinois Department of Revenue has projected losses of 20,000 private-sector jobs, 43,000 residents to other states on net, and $1.9 billion in GDP in the first four years of a progressive tax.

Lang’s progressive-tax proposal would hit successful small businesses, which account for 72 percent of all small-business income in Illinois.

State Rep. Lou Lang’s progressive tax would hurt the middle class by making Illinois home to the second-highest small-business tax rate in the U.S.

Replacing Illinois’ fair, flat income tax with a progressive tax would mean that some married couples with both spouses working would pay more in state income taxes than if they remained single.

Under Lang’s plan, Illinois’ top tax rate for noncorporate businesses would become 11.25 percent — the second-highest rate in the U.S.

A progressive tax would give Illinois politicians carte blanche to raise rates, which would end up sticking middle-class taxpayers with rates originally intended for “the rich” – all while chasing still more residents and businesses out of the state.