Lake County Gazette

Mike Amrozowicz, GOP candidate for the District 31 state Senate seat, has been listening to the concerns of small businesses and others about the state of affairs in Illinois and addressing their frustrations with lawmakers in Springfield.

“The campaign is going well. (I) spoke to a number of small-business owners about the state of the Illinois economy, and they are very frustrated,” Amrozowicz told the Lake County Gazette. “They feel the current Illinois legislative delegation is not in tune with the issues and risks they face as business owners.”

Amrozowicz said the conditions for businesses in Illinois create a high-risk, low-reward situation that he said is not good for attracting and creating jobs. Amrozowicz said the solution to this requires certain reforms.

“The business climate is such that they feel the risk/reward trade-off is so distorted here in Illinois that it sometimes feels like doing business here is mostly risk with minimal reward,” Amrozowicz said. “When businesses feel that way, then they are less likely to incur the risk of expansion and that costs the people of Illinois with not only depressed job growth, but negative job growth. I respond to their concerns by telling them that the solutions to bring businesses back to Illinois are to create an attractive environment for them by implementing workers' comp reform and having a sensible tax structure, both of which they heartily agree on.”

Attracting businesses to the state will alleviate some of the budget problems Illinois has been facing, among them the $53 billion in state employee health care debt that the state owes, Amrozowicz said.

“Owing $53 billion to the state employee health care fund is another example of the long-standing issue with mismanagement and overspending in Springfield, which leads to putting at risk the ability of the state to keep its promises,” Amrozowicz said. “Years of neglecting to properly fund the pensions and employee health care are irresponsible and immoral.”

Amrozowicz's solution to the budget crisis: Act like adults.

“We released a short video on my Facebook page regarding the Illinois budget,” Amrozowicz said. “I opened with a statement that we need to start managing the finances in Illinois like adults.”

As he posted the video on his social media page, reports surfaced of two lawmakers playing video games on the legislative floor while education was being debated. They certainly did not act like adults, Amrozowicz said.

“By coincidence, we get reports of some of our lawmakers playing video games on the chamber floor during debate on the higher education bill,” Amrozowicz said. “Maybe these lawmakers attained new high scores playing Candy Crush, but the Madigan/Cullerton super-majorities are receiving failing scores addressing the Illinois budget. We have very severe problems in this state, and we need our leaders in Springfield and D.C. to take our problems seriously.”

Amrozowicz said the lack of concern from lawmakers has not gone unnoticed by voters.

“While out door-knocking and discussing issues with the residents of our district, the frustration and anger they possess is clearly evident,” Amrozowicz said. “They feel let down by their elected officials from whom they expect leadership.”

Voters are seeking change and expect their leaders to do better, Amrozowicz said.

“They are looking for transformational reform and want their elected officials to change the way business is done in Springfield," Amrozowicz said. "We have too many lawmakers voting "Present" and not leading like the people of our district expect them to."