North Egypt News

Franklin County conservative activist Karen Tucker wasn’t surprised to see voters overwhelmingly reject Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive tax plan.

“I think people did their homework and didn’t like how it left the door open to Springfield lawmakers doing whatever they wanted,” Tucker told the North Egypt News. “It was just too much power to give to corrupt politicians.”

Despite the governor endlessly promoting the tax he has insisted since taking office would only mean higher rates for the state’s most affluent residents and pumped in access of $50 million of his own money into a campaign aimed at swaying voters, taxpayers soundly rejected the measure that required 60% approval from all voters for passage.

“Anytime the governor is going to pay that much money out of his own pocket to pass something, it can’t be good for the rest of us,” Tucker added. “Normally, his style is to strong-arm and intimidate, but I’m glad enough people saw this for what it was and took a much-needed stance.”

Tucker said she’s not shocked to see a now-agitated Pritzker threatening everything from across-the-board tax hikes to “painful” budget cuts in order to counterbalance things as he sees fit.

“The thing is, if we’re ever going to get our budget in balance we’ll have to make serious cuts to do it,” Tucker added. “I really believe the governor was throwing that out there as a scare tactic, but it may be what we really need if we’re willing to make the right cuts.”

Tucker has long worried about the impact the tax could have had on the economy going forward.

“If the tax becomes law, you really have to ask yourself why would anyone that doesn’t have to stay around, especially when you hear the governor talking his shutdown talk again," Tucker added. "At some point, it just becomes too much.”