SPRINGFIELD – Political groups responded to Governor Pritzker's 2020 State of the State Address Wednesday:
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response to Governor Pritzker’s State of the State address:
In his State of the State speech today, Governor Pritzker talked about his desire to reach across the aisle and find common ground to solve the enormous challenges facing Illinois. Republicans in Illinois stand ready to work in good faith with the Governor, but we will not solve the immense challenges we face by pushing the same tax-and-spend policies that created the mess in Illinois.
So far, Governor Pritzker’s priorities have been focused on adding to our financial crisis, not solving it. His priorities have made life more expensive for working families in Illinois, not more affordable. And in the midst of a mass exodus of people fleeing our state, Governor Pritzker’s priorities will only serve to speed up our decline as small businesses shutter, property taxes keep rising, and middle class wallets are hit up time and again.
Illinois is drowning under a tsunami of legal and illegal public corruption. I urge the Governor to follow through on his promises and act with leadership on substantive ethics reforms and non-partisan legislative redistricting. With three months to go on a Fair Maps Amendment deadline, nothing less than urgent action by the Governor is acceptable.
But there is one person who stands in the way of these critical changes. Mike Madigan has slow-walked ethics reform and refuses to support the non-partisan redrawing of legislative maps. Now is the time for Pritzker to show Madigan that the status quo in Springfield must change. I hope the Governor has the courage to do so.
Statement attributable to Vote No on the Blank Check Amendment Chairman Greg Baise. The group is organizing a campaign to oppose Pritzker's Progressive Tax effort on the November 2020 ballot:
Barely 24 hours after another legislator pleaded guilty to corruption, J.B. Pritzker wants the people of Illinois to trust Springfield politicians with more of their hard earned money.
The governor’s message is clear. He and the Springfield insiders refuse to stop spending and now demand a blank check from middle class taxpayers.
The people of Illinois already know taxes are too high, and this new costly income tax will just send more families and small business owners fleeing a state whose crushing tax burden is already unmatched anywhere else in the United States.