Dupage Policy Journal

Republican House candidate Laura Hois worries about the lasting effects of the coronavirus on the state of Illinois.

“The uncertainty and indefinite timeline of the current shutdown will likely damper the entrepreneurial spirit,” Hois told the DuPage Policy Journal. “Illinois is woefully unprepared and underfunded for a crisis of this magnitude. Individuals and businesses are experiencing delays when applying for unemployment relief and SBA loan assistance and are unclear on how long they can stay viable.”

To give the state its best chance of surviving it all, Hois, who is running against incumbent state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-Naperville) in the 81st District, is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to change the way Springfield now operates.  

“The Pritzker administration should rethink its tax-and-spend policies in light of the state’s increasingly dire financial circumstances,” she said. “Raising taxes will not get us out of this problem and it will result in even more outmigration. Illinois’ extreme financial need goes back to the decades of corruption, lack of accountability and financial mismanagement. Lowering taxes and spending restraint is what’s needed to turn the needle back in a positive direction.”

Hois added the governor’s progressive income tax proposal also needs to be on the chopping block.

“Gov. Pritzker should take the constitutional amendment question off the November ballot,” she said. “People are hurting and should not be expected to pay another tax increase when their businesses and livelihoods were shut down out of no fault of their own. The governor has an opportunity to help people and business owners recover and rebuild their lives.”

Currently, Pritzker’s stay-at-home order remains in place, leaving the vast majority of businesses across the state shuttered after they were deemed to be nonessential by the government.