CHICAGO — Brandon Johnson will be looking to Springfield for help with parts of his estimated $450 million package of tax proposals, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker made clear after meeting Friday with Chicago’s mayor-elect that he doesn’t support a major component of the plan: a tax on financial transactions.
As part of a plan to help stabilize the city’s finances, Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, has proposed a tax of $1 to $2 per securities trading contract, a concept that has long been floated in the statehouse without gaining traction.
After an hourlong meeting with Johnson in the governor’s Chicago office, Pritzker told reporters during a joint news conference that he has “not stood for a transaction tax” because he believes financial services companies would relocate their operations or their computer servers if one were enacted.
