Mike Amrozowicz wants the state government to acquire some "basic kitchen-table common sense."

Amrozowicz, a Republican, has been campaigning for the Dist. 31 state Senate seat in Lake County and has created quite a base.

“It’s going really well; I have a nice volunteer base put together,” Amrozowicz told the Lake County Gazette. “In fact, I was just out with a newer volunteer today showing him how to work the precinct and how to develop the message. I’ve been walking, and I don’t know how many thousands of doors I’m up to already, but the message is resonating well. I’ve never held an elected office, and it’s something that has turned out to be an asset in this election cycle.”

Being a fresh face is catching people’s attention. Amrozowicz believes that the citizens of Illinois are tired of the same old policies that do little to help the state.

“That’s all they have been getting -- empty promises -- no common sense down in Springfield,” Amrozowicz said. “The big thing is, when you look at the state of Illinois, it’s a mess. Everyone knows that. And really, it comes down to basic kitchen-table common sense. Springfield needs to start managing their budget just like we all do at the kitchen table. People, they know everything is in bad shape, but they don’t know why.”

Amrozowicz said one of the reasons why everything is a mess is the  state’s inability to properly balance the budget.

“They ignore the responsibility of balancing the budget, which is required by the Illinois Constitution,” Amrozowicz said. “That explains why we have a $110 billion pension deficit and why we are dead last in the country in bond rating….We’ve continually rolled over the deficit into successive years, and now we are at a point where we need to fix it, or we just evaporate as a viable state.”

The state evaporating is something that Amrozowicz is seeing far too often in Illinois. Part of the reason is because of taxes. He was thrilled about the recent defeat of an amendment to change the Illinois Constitution’s flat-income-tax provision. Amrozowicz believes the high taxes in Illinois are part of the problem.

“We have gone from the Land of Lincoln to the land of leaving because we are over-taxed, and businesses are leaving, and people are leaving,” Amrozowicz said. “We’re the only state with negative job growth (in the Midwest), and now they wanted to tax people even more. And what (is going to happen) is it’s going to push more people out, but the tax levy remains the same. That means less people to pay a higher percentage of what’s left over.”

Amrozowicz said basic business know-how is sorely lacking in Springfield.

“The problem is we don’t have any businesspeople down in Springfield,” Amrozowicz said. “They just think there is just some kind of way that somebody can magically fix this, but it’s not. There is no magic bullet other than cut spending and balance the budget.”

Regarding the budget, Amrozowicz is none too pleased with the budget stalemate in Springfield.

“If Michael Madigan and John Cullerton would be willing to negotiate with the governor, this thing would be fixed in a day,” Amrozowicz said. “The governor has put out all types of propositions… . The governor refuses to kick the can down the road. Let’s raise taxes. Let's push the debt into another year. It’s not going to happen. That’s why we are in such a mess.”

Amrozowicz is calling for a discussion between both parties, a discussion on fixing Illinois and producing results. 

“We need to cut spending; we need to put down some budget," Amrozowicz said. "We have to start doing anything in terms of increasing the revenue. There has to be some reform that’s tied into the budget bill. Term limits. Workman’s comp reform. Property tax tasked to local control. Those are all key items that will help turn the state around.”

Amrozowicz said the state can turn around because he believes in the potential of Illinois and its vast resources and its people. He believes in its greatness.

“We can take what is great about Illinois to fix what is wrong about Illinois.”