Lake County Gazette

Republican House candidate Dan Yost is quick to point out what he sees as the bitter irony in state Sen. Terry Link (D-Indian Creek) being one of the biggest supporters of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax proposal.

“Sen. Link advocated for raising your taxes, while avoiding paying his own,” said Link. “We can’t trust Springfield politicians with any more tax dollars.”

Recently indicted on tax evasion charges, Link is 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.

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.

Running against incumbent state Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee) in the 61st District, Yost has long been a staunch critic of the so-called fair tax plan that Pritzker has been pushing since his days as a candidate and continues to insist will only mean higher tax rates for the state’s most affluent residents.

“The hardship on small businesses in Illinois pre-pandemic was reason enough not to vote for the graduated income tax hike,” he said. “And now Pritzker still wants us to trust him after all the corruption we have seen this year? Enough is enough. No more tax hikes from leaders who have proven to be untrustworthy and undeserving of any more tax dollars. People are fleeing, jobs are disappearing, and politicians seem to be looking for more ways to make Illinois more unaffordable.”