Tonia Khouri insists she’s going to Springfield to deliver a strong and stern message she argues is well overdue.
“People are overtaxed,” Khouri recently posted on Facebook. “I'm going to Springfield to stand up, do what's right, and say enough is enough.”
From there, the Aurora Republican took her message to AM 560 "The Answer" radio show hosted by Dan Proft, who is a principal of Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which owns this publication.
Tonia Khouri
“Everybody is saying high property taxes are a concern; it doesn’t matter what demographic they are,” Khouri, running against Democrat Katrina Villa to replace retiring Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) in the 49th House District said. “People are being taxed to death. I got in the race because of the 32 percent income tax hike that came with no reforms.”
A member of the DuPage County board and chairman of its Economic Development Committee, Khouri asserted she is also staunchly opposed to the progressive tax idea recently proposed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker.
“This is rearing its ugly head again and would be very detrimental,” she said on the radio show. “I felt it necessary to get involved and have the voice of DuPage County heard. They try to sell it as a rich man tax; it’s not. It’s a tax on everyone. It’s an unfair tax. If we keep overburdening taxpayers, they are going to flee.”
Through it all, Khouri said the people she worries most about are the residents who make up the state’s lowest income brackets.
“There is only so much you tax higher bracket individuals,” she said. “I will be vehemently fighting against the progressive tax. Taxes, regulations and red tape all affect our businesses.”
During the GOP primary where she bested rival Nick Zito by nearly a 2-1 margin, Khouri hammered home the fact that Illinois taxpayers already pay one of the highest property taxes in the nation.
“Springfield’s appetite for our money is insatiable,” she previously told the DuPage Policy Journal. “Our families pay the highest property taxes in the nation, and the Chicago Democrats’ and 'surrender' Republicans’ answer was to burden us with a 32 percent income tax hike without any reforms.”
Khouri told "The Answer" she thinks her message is starting to take even more hold with voters of the district.
“People resonate with my message that I can relate with what they are going through,” she said. “People are just looking for good and honest people to do what’s right, take common sense down there to Springfield. That’s what I want to do.”
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