Metro East Sun

Doug Jameson, the Republican candidate for Illinois’ 113th District, thinks this November’s general election could tell the story of the state’s immediate future.

“The only way we change things is to change the direction of things and that starts with finally removing (House Speaker Mike) Madigan (D-Chicago) from power,” he told the Metro East Sun. “All the tricks and gimmicks won’t get the job done. A new and committed direction is what’s needed in Springfield.”

Jameson, who is running against incumbent Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea), points to the new assessment of the state’s bond rating by Moody’s Investors Service as the latest example of what he sees as manipulation on the state’s behalf. He believes the new rating stands to do nothing for Illinois over the long run.

Doug Jameson

Moody's recently improved the state’s bond rating from negative to “stable” by rationalizing things can’t get any worse in the state for up to the next two years.

Jameson doesn’t know how that can be guaranteed when you consider the state already owes more than $8 billion in unpaid debt and many times over that amount in underfunded pension liabilities, he said.

“J.B. Pritzker is already talking about more taxes and the combination of him and (House Speaker Mike) Madigan would be the worst and only lead to more outmigration,” Jameson said. “The top reason given for all the outmigration are taxes. Higher property taxes will only push more of the families in Illinois already on the ramp completely out of the state.”

A real estate professional by trade, Jameson has made the issue of property taxes a central theme of his campaign, vowing that pushing to reform the system will be one of his first orders of business once he arrives in Springfield.

“If Pritzker makes good on his promise of higher taxes that will only accelerate outmigration and further erode the tax base,” he said. “That makes us worse off, despite what Moody’s says, especially when you consider he never even talks about all the pension debt and unpaid bills.”  

Illinois barely escaped seeing its bond rating lowered to “junk” status in 2017 and now stands one level above that at Baa3. Illinois has the lowest rating in the country.