Fair Tax Amendment on Election Day ballot won’t do what it says

Law and Public Issues

By Ann M. Lousin

Ann M. Lousin has been a professor at UIC John Marshall Law School since 1975. Before then, she was a research assistant at the 1969-1970 Illinois constitutional convention and parliamentarian of the Illinois House of Representatives. Her treatise “The Illinois State Constitution: A Reference Guide” was published in December 2009. She can be contacted at alousin@uic.edu.

Posted September 21, 2020 9:35 AM

The Fair Tax Amendment to the Illinois Constitution that Illinoisans will vote on come Nov. 3 is complicated. The dueling TV ads sponsored by proponents and opponents are appalling. The official explanation sent to registered voters last week is scarcely better. What does the amendment really do? Let’s be clear. Constitutional theorists maintain that in an ideal state we would have no restrictions on any taxes in the constitution. But we don’t live in an ideal state. We live in Illinois.I was legal researcher for the …

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