Prairie State Wire

Former Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Mark Curran is uncertain why Democrats in Springfield are not working to fix the state’s out-of-control taxes.

“The first law of business is if you raise prices beyond what your customers can afford, you won’t be in business for too long,” Curran told the Prairie State Wire. “Similarly, if a state taxes too much, people decide to do business somewhere else by relocating. That’s what we’re seeing here with this mass exodus, but no one in Springfield seems to be concerned about it.”

Curran said he was not surprised that Democrats would consider a repeat of the progressive tax proposal that miserably failed in November after voters turned out in mass to reject it.

In November, the progressive tax plan received 47% of the 60% it needed for passage despite Pritzker pumping millions of dollars of his money into a campaign aimed at getting it over the finish line.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) said Democrats are hoping a vow to steer all revenues generated from the tax to the state’s $141 billion pension debt load will make all the difference.

Curran said he doesn’t think any of that will matter to cash-strapped residents.

“It’s like these lawmakers have never taken an economic class,” Curran said. “It doesn’t matter what you say, or what your stated reason is. If people don’t want it and can’t afford it, none of that matters.”

Curran said he can’t see how anything will be different this time around.

“We already have enough taxes in Illinois and people have shown they’ve had enough of Springfield,” Curran said.