Illinois House candidate for District 46 Heidi Holan spoke out after last week's release of a study by Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute that examined the causes of the current financial crisis in Illinois, and placed the blame on elected officials, legislators and voters.
Holan expressed her frustration with the continuing budget impasse and its effect upon voters.
"As I talk to voters in my district, they tell me that they are frustrated that Springfield cannot seem to handle something that each of them are required to do daily, ensure that expenses in their household do not exceed the available income," Holan said. "As a result of our lawmakers’ inability to perform this simple task, Illinois is suffering. Voters understand that $40 billion does not equal $30 billion. They agree with me that 15 years of overspending must end. These voters overwhelmingly support balancing the budget by lowering spending through policy changes before even thinking about increasing taxes."
After years of poor fiscal decisions by elected officials and legislators, the state faces cuts in education, social services and continuing job losses. The voters do not want to lose services, but are unwilling to vote for higher taxes. In addition, the January 2015 expiration of the temporary income tax increase, which was implemented in 2011, has added to the budget woes.
The study explored the effect of Gov. Bruce Rauner's election and how the budget gridlock developed, resulting in no budget in 2015 and a continuing impasse on the 2016 budget. In its conclusion, the study also pointed out that previous governors have implemented unpopular but ultimately successful strategies to resolve the state's budget woes.
"So why isn’t this happening?" Holan said. "Why do Mike Madigan, and his followers — including my opponent — seem to believe the status quo is acceptable and that it is okay to raise taxes and force taxpayers to fund this unchecked spending spree? I am running to represent District 46 in Springfield, and I’m challenging the status quo because we can do better."
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