Craig Wilcox and family
Craig Wilcox and family
Craig Wilcox, a District 32 candidate for the Illinois Senate, says a triple threat of high taxes, underemployment and bleak prospects are driving residents to leave the state.
“People realize other states provide friendlier environments for them to live and work, and they have been migrating from Illinois at an alarming pace,” Wilcox, a retired Air Force colonel, told the McHenry Times.
His comments came after a recent poll from the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois-Springfield and NPR Illinois found 53 percent of Illinois residents have thought about leaving the state. Fourteen percent have a negative opinion of state government.
Mary Mahady
The most urgent need, according to Wilcox, involves capping property taxes at 1 percent of a home’s value, and implementing a flat income tax system that is competitive with nearby states.
“The only way for Illinois to remain competitive is to make a concerted effort to reduce the tax burdens that have led to this exodus of residents,” he said. “Also, every other avenue that the state uses to nickel-and-dime residents must be re-evaluated to ensure the state is doing everything possible to keep families and businesses here in Illinois.”
New leaders may be the best way to see such reforms implemented, Wilcox said. He noted that his opponent, Democrat Mary Mahady, gives lip service to tax cuts, but her instead has raised taxes, a major impetus behind out-migration.
“Her unwillingness to criticize Illinois Democratic leadership demonstrates that she’s more interested in getting elected than she is in solving the problems that they have,” Wilcox said. “Voters know who the real taxpayer advocates are, and I am confident that they will vote to protect their livelihoods from further government incursion.”
If voters send new leadership to Springfield, Wilcox says it could usher in a much-needed cultural transformation.
“If elected, I will serve the district and the state independent of the political bosses,” Wilcox said. “I will fight for increased transparency and will work to shine a light on the corruption that has dragged this state down for too long.”
Wilcox will face Mahady in the Nov. 6 general election.
The 32nd state Senate District includes Crystal Lake, Harvard, Marengo, McHenry and Woodstock.
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