Metro East Sun

Dwight Kay wants to see local taxpayers find the courage to demand what they deserve from their government.

“Right now, people are afraid of their government and the idea of how much more pain it can cause them,” Kay told the Metro East Sun. “I walk the community and talk to voters every day and they all tell me they are afraid because there is no security or opportunity in living in Illinois.”

Illinois is sputtering through one of the weakest and most unstable job markets in the country roughly one year after a coalition of state lawmakers led by House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) muscled through legislation that raised both the personal income tax and the corporate tax rate, according to the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI).

Illinois has experienced an average jobs growth of 1.11 percent since the end of the Great Recession, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is compared to just 0.74 percent in the year following the tax hike.

Kay points to last year's 32 percent income tax hike as a reason the state is missing out on job creation at a time when much of the rest of the country is prospering.

“A large part of the reason so many businesses have decided to steer clear of Illinois is they’ve decided not to stand by and watch Illinois lawmakers waste any more of their money on political favors being done for career politicians,” Kay said. "People tell me they can’t find work and that’s a direct result of all these taxes. Sadly, this will continue until we stop spending and reduce the tax burden on job creators across this state.”

Kay is running against incumbent Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) in Illinois’ 112th District.

“You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip,” Kay said. “People are finally saying enough is enough.”

Illinois is also experiencing a decline in population for the fourth year in a row, according to the Census Bureau. The state’s working-age population has declined by nearly five times more than the rest of the country since the days of the Great Recession.

“People don’t see much of a future for Illinois,” Kay said. “I tell people Illinois has been on a 40-year plan to kill taxpayers and they’ve pretty much done the job.”