Metro East Sun

After what seems like a lifetime of being involved in Illinois politics, Dwight Kay wonders if he’s ever seen legislation flowing from Springfield more convoluted and destructive.

“Take the progressive tax that Gov. (J.B.) Pritzker continues to push,” Kay, who formerly served six years in the House representing the 112th District and ran again for the seat in 2018, told the Metro East Sun. “When you think about it, you need to realize it’s akin to a legalized Ponzi scheme. I see it that way because it’s a trick where people have no idea what to expect or how every taxpayer will ultimately be impacted.”

While the governor continues to insist the plan he has been pushing since his days on the campaign trial will only be a tax on the richest residents of the state, Kay isn’t buying it.

The veteran lawmaker argues a recent Illinois Policy Institute analysis of the plan that finds the state would quickly lose the equivalent of all the 45,000 jobs it gained in 2019 if the bill were to become law is all the proof he needs. In all, IPI forecasts that some 56,399 jobs would be lost.

“This would be one of the greatest disasters to ever hit Illinois,” Kay added. “The overall impact would be so great you’ll find even more businesses leaving Illinois and the nearly 60,000 jobs actually seems like a modest number.”

Voters will finally have their say in November when they go to the polls to vote on the question of if the state Constitution should be amended to allow lawmakers the power to enact a progressive tax system.

Between now and then, Kay said he plans to remind as many of them as he can what’s truly at stake.

“We all know we can’t trust anyone in state government, so why should we even be considering given them what amounts to a blank check,” he said. “This would just be something else heaped on the middle-class.”