Metro East Sun

Former Republican House candidate Mike Babcock says Illinois residents can only dream of what once used to be.

“There was a time when we were probably the most admired state in the country,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “We had farming going, a large city atmosphere and major corporations spread around and then just went wild with the taxes. You lose so much in a world like that; the revenue you lose is just so hard to replace.”

Babcock worries that if Gov. J.B. Pritzker gets his way with the progressive tax plan he’s been pushing since he announced he was a candidate it will only open the door for more of the same deterioration. A new report by the Tax Foundation projects that if the measure passes, Illinois’ overall business competitiveness ranking would tumble all the way down to 47th in the U.S., ahead of only New Jersey, California and New York.

“All the high tax rates just make it more difficult for the state to compete, especially against those that don’t have an income tax at all,” Babcock added. “Anyone can see here in Illinois we have major issues with high retail taxes, high property taxes, and now it’s going to be even higher income tax rates if this thing passes. They just keep blowing things up to make it easier for them to tax at any rates they want, which further allows them to keep giving away money to fund all the causes they have that don’t generate an income. This thing passing only stands to make matters worse.”

Babcock has long been sounding the alarm bell about the negative impact he’s convinced the tax stands to have.

“We already have a mass exodus of people out of this state because taxes and fees are always rising and the progressive tax will be more of the same, including for the middle class,” he said. “They can tell us this progressive tax will only impact the rich, but once they implement it they can change to whatever structure they want, and as the state runs out of money that’s exactly what they would do.”