Prairie State Wire

Jim Dodge is convinced Springfield is its own worst enemy in the fight to keep Illinois a destination state.

“Why would anyone want to come or stay here when all lawmakers seem to focus on are finding ways to take more of their hard-earned money to pay for someone else’s pension and for covering up for their own incompetence,” Dodge told the Prairie State Wire. “Springfield has come to be representative of a political system that no longer works for the people.”

Illinois is among a group of high-taxed states that are suffering outmigration at a much greater pace than low-tax states, according to a new Cato Institute report.

Mike Frerichs

Of the 25 states with the highest taxes in the country, all but one have suffered recent net population losses, while roughly 70 percent of the 25 low-taxed states had a net increase in migration, the report states.

Home to some of the highest property taxes in the country and with the dust from last year’s record-setting 32-percent permanent income tax hike still not fully settled, Illinois lost approximately 42,000 residents in 2016, taking almost $5 billion in personal income with them, according to the Cato Institute.

“Making all this even more mind-blowing is the fact there’s no good reason for doing it,” said Dodge, who is running as a Republican for state treasurer against Democratic incumbent Mike Frerichs in November. “If we were more fiscally responsible as a government, we wouldn’t find ourselves anywhere near in the financial mess we now do.”

With Democratic nominee for governor J.B. Pritzker running on a platform of even more taxes, including a progressive tax, Dodge said the decision for voters in November should be easy.  

“If we continue on this path, we will stay at the bottom of heap in terms of where people want to be,” he said. “Financial conditions will worsen, there will be slower jobs growth and even higher taxes. That’s why this election is so important, only Republicans are advancing a plan to save Illinois and carry out the will of the people.”