Well of course it isn't

Debate not over on towns’ contribution to teachers’ pension fund. And while the impoverished cities will probably receive a bye, rich towns won’t.

Just for fun, some folks in Illinois took a look at CT to see if they could predict what might happen in (to) the Prairie State should their legislator impose a graduated income tax. Spoiler alert: It’s not pretty.

“How Connecticut’s ‘Tax on the Rich’ ended in middle-class tax hikes, lost jobs, and more poverty”

In the past 30 years, just one U.S. state has adopted a progressive income tax: Connecticut. It made the switch from a flat income tax in 1996, phasing in the progressive income tax over three years.1

The results were disastrous. And they should halt, or at least caution, Illinois lawmakers now pushing to do the same.

Connecticut’s experience is a warning that switching to a progressive income tax will eventually end in a tax hike on Illinois’ struggling middle class, result in fewer jobs – particularly for those on the margins of the labor force – and increase poverty. It will fail to combat inequality or fix the state’s finances.

While Connecticut lawmakers sold the progressive tax as a way to provide middle-class tax relief and reduce property taxes, neither occurred. Instead, everyday taxpayers have been hit with recurring income and property tax hikes.

The typical Connecticut household has seen its income tax rates increase more than 13 percent since 1999. At the same time, property tax burdens (property taxes as a share of income) have risen by more than 35 percent.

…..Connecticut became the last state to enact an income tax in 1991, introducing a flat 4.5 percent income tax rate. In 1996, the state decided to phase in a progressive income tax featuring tax brackets with a 3 percent tax rate and a 4.5 percent tax rate. This income tax relief was short lived. In the time since phasing in the income tax, the median household has seen their income tax rates increase by more than 13 percent. Today, Connecticut has seven income tax brackets with marginal income tax rates ranging from 3 to 6.99 percent.

Making matters even worse, the policy change cost the state’s economy more than $10 billion and 360,000 jobs, ultimately shrinking the labor force by an estimated 362,000 workers.

There are pages and pages more, with graphs and footnotes, but you already know all this.