UPDATE: On Thursday afternoon, Madigan announced a plan to tax personal income over $1 million at an extra 3 percent, bringing the effective rate for people earning more than $1 million to 8 percent. Individuals with income under $1 million would continue to pay the current rate of 5 percent, although that rate is scheduled to decrease in January 2015 to 3.75 percent. Madigan expects the measure to raise an additional $1 billion yearly, which would go toward education funding. The plan would require a constitutional amendment.
“Over the last several years, every area of Illinois has experienced school closures, teacher layoffs and classroom cuts due to reduced education funding that has been forced by a crowding out of state revenues,” Madigan said. “This is not a complete solution to our education funding issues, but it is a fair and equitable way to reverse a decline brought on by the national economic problems and will help address a number of spending pressures that vary among school districts.”