Kane County Reporter

Ben Bierly said lawmakers in Springfield continue to ignore the obvious regarding the state’s financial standing.

“I see where Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker is trying to add seven increased taxes to the budget as a way of pulling in more revenue,” the former Republican state Senate candidate told the Kane County Reporter. “We’re never going to tax our way out of our hole. That approach only makes the situation worse, which explains how we lost 79,000 people last year to outmigration. That’s revenue we’re no longer collecting, along with that from all the businesses that are now gone.”

Bierly said he’s not surprised one of the taxes Democrats are considering again is the progressive rate voters rejected it in November.

“They really want to maintain spending when it’s clear they need to be working on doing what’s best for people, which is reeling it in,” he said.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) said that most of the revenue generated from such a tax would go toward paying down the state’s $141 billion pension fund debt.

Bierly is convinced none of the tweaks will matter much to already cash-strapped taxpayers.

“I think people will come out the same way they did before in rejecting this thing, and the opposition may be even greater,” he said. “Ticking people off is a good way to get them motivated, and I think having to deal with something this again so soon after you’ve already spoken will have that effect.”

In November, voters overwhelmingly shot down a similar proposal when the initiative gained just over 47% of the 60% support it needed for passage. The measure came up short despite Pritzker pumping millions of dollars of his money into a campaign designed to get it over the finish line.