Will County Gazette

Rick Laib doesn’t see how Illinois can move forward without making major change in Springfield.

“My hope is that people will elect different lawmakers and those lawmakers will have the courage to make the changes that are clearly needed,” Laib, who is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Aurora) in the 11th District, told the Will County Gazette. “We need lawmakers that are committed to a different way of doing things, especially with everything we’re faced with coming back from.”

A new WalletHub.com survey finds Illinois ranks near the top of state economies most vulnerable to the coronavirus crisis. The findings were based on variables that include the state’s lack of a rainy day fund and the lowest share of workers with access to paid sick leave.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone given that we’re an economy that’s been propped up and on life support for some time now,” Laib said. “We had already gotten to the point where we are relying on things that aren’t really stable, like marijuana sales and stuff like that.”

Laib said it all comes back to just one thing when it comes to getting the state back on track.

“We need lawmakers that will put different practices in place, otherwise we’re destined to make this shaky economy more of a longtime reality,” he said. “The practices I’m speaking of are no different than what any other home or business has to implement. We can’t spend more than we have; we have to have sound fiscal practices. No business can stay afloat by repeatedly spending money that they don’t have and I can’t think of a home with healthy finances that does anything like that either.”