Metro East Sun

No matter where Jason Plummer goes on the campaign trail, the first thing he hears is always the same.

“Residents everywhere are fed up and the biggest gripe they have is about property taxes,” Plummer told the Metro East Sun. “It’s been this way for too long and people are just clamoring for change to get this state back on track.”

Illinois now has the second highest property taxes in the country, with rates now exceeding what many pay in regular mortgage payments, a recent Realtor.com survey found.  

Residents are fleeing the state at a rate of one every 4.6 minutes. Nearly 115,000 people left Illinois from July 2016 to July 2017 and approximately 643,000 have moved out since 2010.

The state’s population has decreased every year for the last four years, dropping it behind Pennsylvania and out of the country’s top five states with the largest population, the Illinois Policy Institute states. 

“Southern Illinois has a lot going for it but we’re continuing to see people struggle because of all the bad policies coming out of Springfield,” said Plummer, who is running against Democrat Brian Stout for the 54th District Senate seat. “Everybody knows Springfield is run by people out of Chicago and they clearly don’t know the impact they're having down here. We’re taking the attitude that it’s time to stand up to these out of control taxes.”

In addition to enacting property tax reform, Plummer thinks tackling issues like workman’s compensation, frivolous lawsuits and burdensome regulations could go a long way in helping the state right itself.  

“We just need all the politicians in Springfield to get out of the way and let things happen,” he said.  

The 54th District runs from Effingham to Shiloh, including all of Bond, Fayette, Clinton and Marion counties and parts of St. Clair, Madison, Effingham and Washington counties.