Lake County Gazette

Senate candidate Chris Kasperski (R-Grayslake) thinks it’s time Springfield was held accountable for its long-running actions.

“Illinois needs help but not in the form of a federal bailout of decades’ worth of corruption and gross mismanagement,” Kasperski, who is running against longtime incumbent state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) in the 31st District, told the Lake County Gazette. “For decades now, Illinois politicians have made promises that they knew couldn't be kept. They were relying on every possible means to extract more money from anyone they can while failing to prepare for a state disaster.”

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon recently penned a letter to members of Illinois' Congressional Delegation requesting $41 billion in federal funding to balance damage done to the budget by the COVID-19 virus. In the letter, Harmon called special attention to an Illinois Institute of Government report that predicts the state could lose as much as $14 billion in revenues over the next year given current climate.

Specific requests include a $10 billion payout for the state’s long-insolvent public pension system.

“Rather than keeping their federal requests for help focused on the pandemic, Illinois Democratic leaders are trying to sneak in a bailout of the financial hole that they have dug,” Kasperski said. “We should not be trying to pass off our problems on to other states. We should be working towards a solution that doesn't let them off the hook.”

Kasperski argues the change in vision and attitude needs to start at the top with Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Gov. Pritzker and the General Assembly need to take a good hard look in the mirror and examine ways that they can streamline government and reduce redundancies,” he said. “It will take some tough decisions and sacrifices on their part to dig ourselves out of this hole. The state's revenues are going to be significantly impacted by this pandemic, and the budget must relate to that harsh reality.”

Kasperski alluded to longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) being at the center of all the dysfunction.

“Illinois has maintained a tarnished reputation from decades of corruption and greed,” he said. “It is no coincidence that the financial ruin that the state has found itself in has coincided with the fact that it is controlled by the most-powerful legislative leader in our state and nation's history. Asking for a federal bailout of such wrongdoing is not going to change that corrupt behavior.”