Dupage Policy Journal

Count former Republican state representative Jeanne Ives among those wholly opposed to the Green Energy bill backed by Democrats.

“These guys are crazy; these Democrats are morons when it comes to policy,” Ives said in a video posted to YouTube. “This policy is terrible. We are an energy rich state in coal, in natural gas and in oil.”

Ives, who also sought the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, has been as vocal as ever of late, recently launching the advocacy group Breakthrough Ideas as a vehicle aimed at lowering rising property taxes across the state. Voters in Milton Township recently came together to reject a proposed referendum that sought to create a new government entity that opponents say could have meant a tax increase of 350%.

 “This is a big victory for local taxpayers,” Ives said in a press release. “We believe another tax would be a financial no-win situation for families and businesses in DuPage County.”

Critics of the proposed tax claim Democratic lawmakers have mislead voters about its potential impact in the same way they say Gov. J.B. Pritzker did in trying to sell voters on his graduated income tax before it was roundly rejected by voters at the ballot box in November.

In the case of the latest proposal, Ives said she always knew it was just a matter of Breakthrough Ideas getting its message out to enough voters.

“We wanted to make sure voters understood that raising taxes at any level of government without making major spending reforms would only exacerbate the fiscal crisis that is hurting residents,” she said.