Prairie State Wire

Jim Dodge points to Springfield’s history of budget woes as being a classic example of what insanity can truly look like.

“It’s as amazing as it is sad that lawmakers in Springfield can’t seem to get through their heads that the people of Illinois are already overtaxed and in need of relief,” Dodge told Prairie State Wire. “It’s crazy that we’ve still got politicians talking about more tax increases when you look at everything that’s already going on.”

A new Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) report details how the latest push for additional tax revenue comes at a time when taxpayers are already on the hook for more than $100 million in wasteful government spending.

Mike Frerichs

IPI highlighted some of the most bloated expenditures, including $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.

All the wasteful spending comes at a time when taxpayers across the state have already been hit with the second-highest property tax rate in the country and as residents pay one of the highest combined tax burdens in the country.

“I think it will take more voters sending the message loud and clear that enough is enough by throwing incumbents out of office,” said Dodge, who is running as a Republican for state treasurer against Democratic incumbent Mike Frerichs. “My sense is people are deeply concerned, and that voters focused on Illinois’ future and not trying to nationalize this election know that the state is in bad shape and something has to change in Springfield.”

As it is, Illinois has now experienced four straight years of population decline. A recent Center for State Policy and Leadership-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.