CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday reiterated his opposition to a per-employee corporate tax in Chicago, as Mayor Brandon Johnson again proposes one as part of his latest city budget pitch.

“I do not think that is a great way to provide revenue for the city, and here’s why: it sends a signal. It’s just the most direct signal to employers: don’t hire more people,” Pritzker said when asked about the idea of a so-called “head tax,” which the mayor has included in his city spending package for the second year in a row.

Pritzker’s comments after an unrelated news conference in West Englewood came less than a week before he faces reelection to a potentially historic third term. At the same time, Johnson is dealing with many aldermen skeptical of his budget plan, just months before he too faces voters deciding whether to keep him in City Hall.

The governor on Thursday emphasized that he wants more people hired in Illinois.

“That all provides tax revenue that will help the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said. “I love this city. I’m from the city. I live in this city. But I also am the governor of the entire state, so everybody deserves to have a more affordable state.”

In a statement Thursday, Johnson spokesperson Griffin Krueger said the tax credit offered in his new proposal “is designed to incentivize job growth and economic development in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.” But the mayor wants Springfield’s help to do more.

“Currently, state law severely limits the City’s ability to levy increased taxes on corporations,” Krueger said. “The Mayor appreciates the Governor’s stated support for a state-wide millionaires tax and remains committed to working with the Governor and the General Assembly to pursue expanded home rule authority to give Chicago greater flexibility and additional avenues to raise progressive revenue to address deeply-rooted fiscal challenges.”

Johnson first proposed a corporate head tax a year ago in his 2026 budget proposal that was shot down by aldermen — and Pritzker, who said at the time he was “absolutely, four-square opposed” to adding $21-per-employee fee on large companies.

That opposition infamously caught the ire of progressive Johnson ally Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who last November shouted at the governor in front of a crowd of reporters and TV cameras in Little Village. Pritzker told Sigcho-Lopez what Illinois needs is another go at the progressive income tax, which the governor tried and failed to pass in a 2020 referendum.

The mayor, facing a tough reelection fight and another large budget deficit for 2027, doesn’t want to wait until then to enact what he says are taxes on the ultra-wealthy. So in Johnson’s latest spending plan he is calling for a $25 monthly tax on each employee for companies with at least 125 workers, but with a twist he hopes will earn it more aldermanic support than last year’s version.

Companies would get a tax credit if the jobs are located within economically disadvantaged regions designated by a city formula that mostly covers the South, Southwest and West sides. A copy of the revenue ordinance says the employee must spend “the majority of scheduled work hours in any given calendar month” at those locations for the company to get the full $25 rebate.

Another provision states the city comptroller will determine the rules for services of a “peculiar nature” that make it difficult to ascertain whether the work falls under the designated locations.

Johnson’s fourth budget proposal overall aims to finally realize his long-running tax-the-rich rhetoric while avoiding hitting Chicago residents directly with new election year taxes and fees.

Ahead of his budget reveal, 29 aldermen signed a letter calling for no head tax, which makes the mayor’s road ahead quite difficult. He needs 26 votes — or 25, if he’s willing to cast a tie-breaker — to pass a budget.

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