Dan Ugaste feels reinvigorated by what he believes are voters committed to putting policy over politics.
“I hope legislators listen to their constituents,” the newly elected Republican state representative in the 65th District told Kane County Reporter in response to the news that voters in at least seven Democratic-led districts are actively voicing their reservations about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan for a progressive income tax. “You have to remember that’s the reason we were sent down here, to vote the way people want us to vote."
According to Illinois Policy Institute, recent polling shows the districts where the pushback is building include those of Reps. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), Karina Villa (D-West Chicago), Mary Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville), Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook), Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), Monica Bristow (D-Alton) and Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville).
State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva)
“I think people are viewing this the same way Republicans in Springfield are, and we’ve been saying this is just another tax hike where you can’t trust the people to do with the money what they say they will. We need to be working to do more with what we have.”
Despite all the noise about opposition, the Illinois Senate Executive Committee recently voted by better than a 2-1 margin to advance legislation that would strip away the current flat-tax system in favor of Pritzker’s progressive tax plan. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation is among the entities lamenting that such a development could mean even more dire circumstances for Illinois in the form of further slowing economic growth and speeding up outmigration.
“Anytime you hear something like what we’re hearing from more and more voters, it tells you they understand what is happening and it gives me more hope going forward," added Ugaste, who won his seat in November with 52 percent of the vote. “It’s affirmation for what we need to be doing and of what the people want.”
The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.
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