Daily Debunk: Seniors rail at 'lies' against Fair Tax

Groups insist it will bolster senior services like Meals on Wheels and reemphasize that retirement income won’t be taxed

Charles Johnson, an AARP Illinois volunteer who previously headed the Illinois Department on Aging, backs the Fair Tax Amendment and insists it has nothing to do with taxing retirement income. (Zoom)

By Ted Cox

Three of the state’s largest groups representing senior citizens joined Wednesday in attacking “insidious” TV ads spreading “lies” about the Fair Tax Amendment.

AARP Illinois, the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, and Jane Addams Seniors in Action held an online teleconference calling out what they labeled “misinformation” on the proposal to adopt a graduated income tax in the state.

“There is nothing more important for our members,” said Don Todd, president of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, adding that it represents 257,000 retirees across the state.

“We have watched the wealthiest individuals in Illinois avoid paying their fair share of taxes,” Todd said. “You would think that the wealthiest would be glad to chip in, but sadly they disagree. You would think that they would be ashamed that the workers in Illinois pay twice as much in taxation,” overall as a percentage of income. “Unfortunately, the rich do not feel ashamed. Instead, they have resorted to spending their wealth on television and social-media ads that spread lies about the Fair Tax.”

Todd, a Springfield resident, specifically cited an “insidious” TV ad in which a grandmother says she’ll have to move away from her family because Illinois will start taxing retirement income.

“The truth is just the opposite,” Todd said, pointing out the additional $3 billion in revenue estimated to be produced from a progressive income tax would fund senior services while also making it unnecessary to even consider drastic measures such as taxing retirement income.

“It is time to stop lying,” Todd said. “It is time to take ads like this down. It is time that our wealthiest citizens stop their scare tactics and start to pay their fair share.”

“I demand that the false advertisements meant to scare and influence seniors be taken down immediately,” said Carmen Betances of Jane Addams Seniors in Action in Chicago.

“Illinois is one of the few states that doesn’t tax retirement income,” Betances added. “The Fair Tax will not change that.”

“I am deeply concerned about the misinformation being spread around about the graduated-income-tax amendment and what its passage would mean to seniors,” said Charles Johnson, an AARP Illinois volunteer who previously served as director of the Illinois Department on Aging. He said passing the Fair Tax Amendment is “in the best interests of older Illinois residents.”

“The misinformation out there keeps (seniors) thinking that things will somehow work out,” said Wendy Edginton, an AARP Illinois volunteer living in Rock City. “It makes me crazy to know my hardworking friends and neighbors are paying the same tax rate as millionaires and billionaires in this state. And it makes me angry when I see those same millionaires and billionaires spreading rumors about a graduated income tax impacting retirement income. This is not true.

“It makes me angry when I see those same millionaires and billionaires spreading rumors about a graduated income tax impacting retirement income. This is not true.”

Wendy Edgington of Rock City (Zoom)

“It’s wrong that billionaires pay the same tax rate as essential workers — the nurses, first responders, and grocery-store clerks,” she added.

“Switching to a graduated income tax does not allow the state to tax retirement income,” Johnson insisted, “and it does not make it easier to tax retirement income in the future.” He reemphasized AARP Illinois’s support for the Fair Tax Amendment and its adamant opposition to taxing retirement income.

“Only those who can afford it would pay more under the graduated income tax,” he added, an estimated 3 percent of taxpayers making more than $250,000 a year.

Betances said what would change is the “unfair flat tax that disproportionately harms low-income communities of color.” She said the additional revenue produced by a progressive income tax would fund “the services we need to age with dignity.”

Ruth Maskow, an Alton member of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, specifically cited “services that keep seniors in their own homes,” like Meals on Wheels. “This is a vote to protect seniors,” she said. “Millionaires and billionaires have teamed up to stop the Fair Tax by scaring seniors. They’re spending millions of dollars on dishonest ads to try to scare us into voting against our own best interests. You don’t have to listen to those scare tactics. The Fair Tax is the best way to protect our retirement security.”

Gov. Pritzker weighed in later Wednesday, saying it’s actually opponents of the progressive income tax who are pushing the notion to tax retirement income.

“If opponents of the Fair Tax have their way, they would in fact tax retirement income — they’ve proposed that,” Pritzker said in a Q&A session with reporters toward the end of his weekly coronavirus briefing. “I want to preserve the ban on retirement taxes,” he added, “and I stand with all Democrats opposed to raising retirement taxes. But the people who are opposed to the Fair Tax want to put the burden on people who can’t afford it. I want to put the burden on the people who can most afford it, and that’s our millionaires and billionaires in Illinois.”

Johnson said failing to pass the Fair Tax Amendment would place retirement income at risk and potentially “force” the General Assembly to reverse course and reconsider taxing it.

“Don’t believe the lies,” he added. “Believe in the groups here today who have dedicated themselves to advocating on behalf of seniors and all local residents.”