NW Illinois News

Andrew Chesney laments there’s a mindset among some lawmakers in Springfield that virtually makes it impossible for them to do the budgetary things that need to be done in the interest of the state.

“For some, nothing will ever be enough when it comes to budget spending and taxes,” Chesney told the NW Illinois News. “That’s really just the way it is, no matter how much money we’re talking about.”

A new Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) report finds that the state’s current spending plan is fraught with around $100 million in wasteful spending at a time when a group of lawmakers are pushing for additional tax increases.  

Nick Hyde

IPI identified line items in the current budget as including such expenditures as $13.1 million for an arts council chaired by the wife of longtime Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan and pork projects that include $10 million to rehabilitate Chicago’s privately owned Uptown Theatre.

The waste in spending comes at a time when Illinois homeowners pay the second highest property tax rates in the country, and residents pay one of the highest combined tax burdens in the country.

“I’m in favor of a smarter, more efficient budget plan, instead of trying to tax your way out of trouble,” said Chesney, who is running against Democrat Nick Hyde in the 89th District. “It’s amazing that you still have Democrats believing you can tax your way out of this despite everything we have seen that says and has shown us otherwise.”

As it is, Illinois has now experienced four straight years of population decline and a recent Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield and NPR Illinois survey found more than half of residents across the state have considered leaving Illinois because of taxes.

IPI researchers report much of Illinois’ wasteful ways are stoked by structural problems that include lifetime health care guarantees for state workers and an unsustainable pension benefits system.

The 89th House District includes portions of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Carroll, Ogle and Whiteside counties.