Will County Gazette

After nearly six years in Springfield, veteran state Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) argues she still finds the level of hypocrisy on the part of many of her Democrat colleagues to be unfathomable.

“What still amazes me is how the other side of aisle always talks about jobs and communities being so critical and turns around and seeks to pass yet another regulation that hurts job creators,” McDermed told the Will County Gazette. “How are you going to create jobs in the communities that need them most when you spend almost all your time in Springfield regulating job creators?”

A new report by the Tax Foundation details how the state’s competitive position would dramatically fall if the progressive tax proposal Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been pushing since his days as a candidate becomes law. If the measure passes, researchers report Illinois’ overall ranking would tumble all the way down to 47th in the U.S. for business competitiveness, ahead of only New Jersey and California.

Despite Pritzker continuing to insist the tax will only mean higher rates for the state’s most affluent taxpayers, McDermed isn’t buying it. She’s come to understand why the governor is willing to ignore the will of so many taxpayers in continue to push the tax.

“He’s pandering to those he thinks will help him get re-elected by selling them on this tax,” she added. “The reality is corporations don’t vote and he’s not thinking about the welfare of the state by misleading voters into supporting this tax.  At the end of the day, you can’t just keep putting these type of regulations on job creators and expect them to be able to continue creating jobs. Some of them will, they just won’t be in Illinois any longer, but rather across state lines somewhere where they can get fair treatment.”