Rick Laib
Rick Laib
Illinois Congressional candidate Rick Laib indicated that the spread of the conronavirus across the state has only served to make a putrid situation more toxic in terms of the state's budget.
“The problems to the Illinois budget are only exacerbated by the presence of COVID-19 in our state,” Laib told the Will County Gazette. Laib is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Aurora) in the 11th District. “The Illinois budget has been mismanaged for years and now we are in the unfortunate position that the public are taking wise and advised emergency precautions, our already unhealthy economic status will take a harder hit.”
Laib said he stands in agreement with a group of Republican lawmakers now imploring Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take immediate action on a number of proposals they view as being critical to the state’s survival.
Republican state representatives Allen Skillicorn (East Dundee), Blaine Wilhour (Beecher City), Chris Miller (Oakland), Darren Bailey (Xenia), Dan Caulkins (Decatur) and John Cabello (Machesney Park) all recently signed off on a letter to Pritzker calling on him to freeze state unemployment insurance rates and the state’s minimum wage for at least the next year.
“We already know the type of measures that produce a healthy economy: incentive businesses, cut taxes, deregulate,” Laib told the Will County Gazette. “Increasing the minimum wage was not, and is not, an incentive for businesses to operate. A freeze in the minimum wage scheduled increase will only help businesses get back on their feet, and in some cases survive, during this critical time.”
Thus far, Pritzker’s office has not publicly responded to either of the proposals and staffers have not indicated what course of action the governor plans to take on the matter.