A series of new State taxes to support houses of worship, parochial schools and religious ministries go into effect today.
Saint Martin de Porres Roman Catholic Church,
5112 West
Washington Boulevard, Chicago,
where State
Representative LaShawn Ford is on the Finance Council.
A
provision on page 342 of the Capital Bill, at Article
10, Section 1805,
illegally forces taxpayers to donate $140,000 to
Representative Ford's church for "general
infrastructure."
Click on picture for a larger image of where your tax
dollars will be going.
These unconstitutional taxes are part of the legislative package surrounding the 996-page Capital Bill, which was sponsored by Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan.
The new tax revenue will not be distributed equally to all churches, religious schools and ministries. Rather, the General Assembly has designated a preference for specific religious organizations, while excluding all others entirely.
The new taxes, on such things as candy, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, violates Article I, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution, which states, in pertinent part, that "No person shall be required to ... support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination..."
The taxes also violate Article X, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution, which states, in pertinent part, that the General Assembly shall never "make any appropriation or pay from any public fund, whatever, anything in aid of any church or sectarian purpose, or to help support any school [that is] controlled by any church; nor shall any grant of money ever be made by the State to any church."
The mainstream media talks about how the taxes will pay for such things as roads, bridges and schools, but nowhere, other than here, are you informed that a substantial portion of the new taxes go to pay for infrastructure at religious facilities.