Will County Gazette

Republican Congressional candidate Rick Laib can’t think of a time and place the progressive tax system long championed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker would actually be in the best interest of the masses.

“Instituting a progressive tax is not good for a healthy economy and it certainly would not be good in a struggling one,” Laib told the Lake County Gazette. “A bad idea is a bad idea regardless of the circumstances.”

Laib argues the governor’s contingency plan strikes him as being every bit as bad as his first option.  

With the progressive tax the governor has been selling since his days as a candidate on the Nov. 3 ballot in the form of a referendum, Democrat Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton recently warned voters if Pritzker’s proposal fails to get the support it needs for passage on Nov.3, taxpayers could soon face a 20% state income tax hike to cover any looming budget shortfall. Such a steep rise would send rates spiraling to an all-time personal high state income tax rate for residents of 5.94%.

Since then, the governor has essentially co-signed Stratton’s threat, further warning taxpayers it’s either the progressive tax or a 15% cut in government services, which could mean cuts in funding for education and public safety and a state property tax increase.

Now running against Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) in the 11th District, Laib argues it just charts the course for more of the same.

“A 20% tax increase would simply speed up the rate of evacuation we see Illinoisans leaving the state,” he said. “The progressive tax unfairly targets a higher wage earner. Earners who earn the most are in the best possible position to leave the state, leaving the middle class with the bills.”

In the end, Laib laments the Pritzker administration seems incapable of what families and businesses everywhere are forced to do each day.

“The state has still not shown an attempt to do what thousands of families and businesses do to get back on track for financial health,” he said. “It is unfortunate that past administrations have left the state in a financial mess, but targeting one category of earner will not resolve the problem.”