Lake County Gazette

Republican state House candidate Chris Bos views Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s persistent push of his progressive tax plan as a total indictment of his brand of politics.

“The governor speaks about this being a fair tax but nothing about it falls under that category,” Bos told the Lake County Gazette. “He talks about it only meaning higher tax rates for the state’s richest residents when we know that won’t hold up.”

Running against incumbent state Rep. Mary Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville) in the 51st District, Bos argues just as troubling is the growing question of what could be motivating some of its biggest supporters.

The recent indictment of veteran state Sen. Terry Link (D-Indian Creek) on tax invasion charges makes him the fourth Democratic lawmaker to now find himself facing criminal charges. Facing tax evasion charges, Link joins former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, who faces up to 10 years in prison, and state Sen. Tom Cullerton, who has been hit with a 41-count indictment on embezzlement charges. One-time state Sen. Martin Sandoval has already pleaded guilty to taking $250,000 in bribes from SafeSpeed, a red-light camera vendor.

“The fact that the people pushing this so-called fair tax the most have maybe not been fair in their own lives should raise all kinds of red flags about their true motivations here,” Bos added. “The thought that we can expect this alliance to do what they say definitely has to be there.”

And then there is longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan, who now finds himself implicated in an ongoing federal corruption probe involving ComEd in which it’s alleged bribes were steered to several of his close associates as part of a pay-to-play scheme aimed at currying favor with him.

Bos argues the verdict is already in when it comes to progressive tax.

“This is a Trojan horse where they’re looking to be able to do whatever they want and this tax opens the door to a pathway that we cannot trust,” he said.