Lake County Gazette

Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) thinks the way that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has handled the coronavirus crisis has crippled the state’s economy.

“The Illinois economy is imploding; families are hurting and small businesses are failing,” McSweeney told the Lake County Gazette. “Instead of helping citizens in need, Pritzker is too busy constantly appearing on national TV shows to attack federal government officials.”

And if that isn’t enough, McSweeney laments that the governor is still trying to steer through the legislature his progressive tax proposal that would instantly raise taxes on certain citizens. Pritzker recently confirmed that despite everything that’s happening he has no plans of taking the tax he is pushing as a replacement for the current flat tax system off the ballot in November.

“Over 630,000 Illinois residents have lost their jobs, small businesses are failing, food bank demand is high and families are really hurting,” McSweeney said. “Pritzker’s insulting solution is to do a video and raise taxes again. We need to immediately cut property tax levies and develop a long-term Illinois economic recovery plan, not raise taxes.”

No matter what, McSweeney said his view won’t change when it comes to strapping even more taxes to the backs of residents.

“I’m a 'Hell No,'” he said.

Since the governor enacted his stay-at-home order in late March, forcing countless businesses deemed to be nonessential to shutter, the state’s unemployment rate has spiked upward by 1.2 percent to 4.6 percent overall. While the governor’s order is slated to expire on April 30, to date he has not indicated what he plans to do going forward.