SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois House Democrats are prepared to approve a constitutional amendment question for a millionaire tax this week.

Rep. La Shawn Ford told the House Revenue and Finance Committee Tuesday that millionaires should pay a 3% surcharge on their income taxes to provide property tax relief for families and schools.

Recent data from the Illinois Department of Revenue show that Illinois has over 77,000 millionaires who make up 1.2% of the state's income taxpayers.

The state would use 50% of the revenue collected to provide direct relief to taxpayers and the other half would be distributed to school districts on a per-pupil basis.

"This will make Illinois schools better," Ford said. "It will make Illinois stronger by making sure we can invest in our schools and provide property tax relief to families."

Yet, leaders from the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois oppose the idea. They argue the constitutional amendment could hurt small businesses and shrink the state's tax base.

"The majority of businesses pay taxes under the individual tax rate," said IMA President and CEO Mark Denzler. "22,000 companies, according to the IRS, have revenue over $1 million or more, meaning they're going to see a 61% increase in their income tax rate. At the same time, there's no guarantee that companies will get a property tax break." 

House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 21 passed out of the House Revenue and Finance Committee on a partisan 13-7 vote. It now heads to the House floor for further consideration. 

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