Dixon Mayor Liandro "Li" Arellano Jr. | Facebook
Dixon Mayor Liandro "Li" Arellano Jr. | Facebook
Dixon Mayor Liandro "Li" Arellano Jr. is slamming Gov. J.B. Pritzker who in recent days has played lip service to lowering the state’s gas tax due to the Ukrainian conflict.
“The massive costs of Illinois' highest-in-the-nation pension debt have damaged the state's ability to afford basic functions of government, including transportation infrastructure. Tax-and-spend Democrats such as Gov. Pritzker responded by spiking the already-high tax burden on state residents," Arellano told NW Illinois News in regard to the state's gas tax. "This is exactly why Illinois is one of only three states to actually lose population in the recent Census. More taxes are not the answer—we must fix the underlying financial crisis."
The 74th House District candidate said this is one reason the state lost one Congressional seat after its population plummeted to nearly 13 million in 2020, the first time in 200 years.
Illinois has the second-highest gas tax in the country after Pritzker and General Assembly Democrats raised it in 2019, WTVO reported.
“We are looking at ways we can reduce the gas tax across the State of Illinois, because we recognize, even since I introduced my budget, that war has broken out and the result of that war is that oil prices have gone through the roof,” Pritzker said three days ago, according to WTVO.
Back in February, Pritzker suggested a freeze, according to Illinois Policy, but has not acted on the proposal. He was behind the push to double the gas tax early in his term. The move is sure to play poorly at the polls this fall.
Illinoisans pay 77.96 cents per gallon for taxes alone. That is federal and state taxes combined. Across the border to the west, Missouri pays the second-lowest gas tax. In Illinois, a gallon of gas costs 42 cents more than Missouri due to differing tax policies.
The 74th State House District includes nearly all of Whiteside and Lee counties as well as part of LaSalle, Ogle and DeKalb counties. It includes the communities of Dixon, Sterling, Rochelle and Mendota.
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