Kane County Reporter

Republican House candidate Dan Ugaste might be amused if the recent television and film production tax incentive scandal weren’t so dire.

“We’ve allowed things to get so out of whack here in Illinois that when lawmakers finally do something to clean up one mess all they end up doing is making the situation worse than it ever was,” Ugaste told the Kane County Reporter. “The thing is with a better business climate we wouldn’t have to be dealing with any of these issues. That a state like Illinois has to is almost comical."

The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that lawmakers authorized the payout of $420 million in tax credits and other incentives over the last decade to TV and film production companies to attract more of that industry to Illinois.

Richard Johnson

In all, approximately 1,817 companies have benefitted from the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit Act, though what they did to deserve money remains a mystery, as state officials have never probed the books of any of the businesses participating in the program.

“One of the things that really bugs me about all this is we’re giving these huge benefits to these companies to attract new business and industry, but at the same time all the businesses that are already here and have been here are still being forced to adhere to the same old rules,” said Ugaste, running against Democrat Richard Johnson in the 65th District. “That says to me that too many of these politicians still don’t get that we need to be fair-minded and respectful of all our business owners.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently indicted Teamsters boss John T. Coli for allegedly extorting $325,000 from Cinespace Chicago Film Studios co-founder Alex Pissios by threatening to stage work stoppages at the West Side studio, the Deadline Hollywood website states.

It was Coli who introduced Pissios to some of the Democratic lawmakers who ultimately signed off on $31 million in grants and tax breaks used to build Cinespace.

“There are many more things we could be doing with all that taxpayer money,” Ugaste said. “I for one would like to see tax breaks across the board and a repeal of the last tax increase that’s hurting so many people and businesses. I know that you can’t run government exactly how you do a business, but we definitely need to be more efficient and fiscally responsible in what we do.”

The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.