Will County Gazette

Former Republican Congressional candidate Rick Laib feels he can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive tax proposal has been defeated.

“I am grateful that voters saw to reject it,” Laib told the Will County Gazette. “There was a massive push for the progressive tax on a misleading and unfair premise. It does not help the state get its finances in order.”

Despite the governor endlessly promoting the tax he has insisted since taking office would only mean higher rates for the state’s most affluent residents and pumping in the neighborhood of $50 million of his own money into a campaign to get it over the finish line, voters soundly rejected the measure that required 60% approval from all voters for passage.

Laib, who dropped his race to U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) in the 11th Congressional District with 37% of the vote, argues the governor has long had the wrong focus.

“Balancing the state's finances should have been the conversation from the beginning,” he said. “We, as voters, should have a problem when anyone responsible for finances takes office and doesn't make sound spending policies a priority. We cannot continue to spend more money than we have. We cannot continue to collect more in taxes in order to keep spending without accountability. We must live within our means just as any home or business does.”

As for the task of finally getting the state’s finances in order, Laib insists there are other ways.

“We should cut spending,” he said. “We should balance the budget. We should make our spending transparent. All of these paths will help us return to fiscal health but they all take a junior position to two things that we should make a priority: lowering taxes and reducing regulations. If the people of Illinois are encouraged to leave the state, as they have been, no other strategy will be effective.”