The Illinois Education Association is supporting the idea of a 3 percent tax on income over $1 million. (WJBC file photo)

John Gregory/Illinois Radio Network

CHICAGO – An old idea is being supported by education groups hoping for more state funding.

That idea is a 3 percent tax on income over $1 million, with the revenue going to public schools. Cinda Klickna, president of the Illinois Education Association, says the state was already falling short of providing the recommend level of funding to schools before the income tax rate dropped at the beginning of this year.

“Obviously, when the income tax was not extended, we added another big hole in the state budget,” Klickna said. “So, we look at this as one aspect of a way to put money into education and start getting us on the right track.”

The proposal, which has been introduced by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), would supposedly provide about $1 billion in additional education funding. It also requires an amendment to the Illinois Constitution, and the same proposal wasn’t able to move forward in the legislature last year.