Tina Davis, an Adams Township supervisor, points to growing talk of a gas tax hike for Illinois to bolster her argument that the Democrats set to take over complete control in Springfield are focused only on their own interest.
“All in all, our new governor is not interested in the three-quarters of the state that has to survive under his oppression,” Davis, who is treasurer and a Membership & Program Committee member, told the Illinois Valley Times. “It will be and always has been what is good for Chicago.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported a growing number of suburban mayors—and Gov.-elect J.B. Pritizker—have joined outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in supporting a gas tax hike of up to 30 cents a gallon, with the added revenue being pegged to fund statewide infrastructure projects.
J.B. Pritzker
Davis says such an increase would have devastating consequences in her neck of the woods.
“Unfortunately, we are not even a collar county [i.e., does not border Cook County] and every decision Chicago makes affects us,” she said. “We are a small bedroom community; people commute from here to the cities and of course more taxes on fuel will affect them. Most of our community is retirees on fixed incomes; yes the taxes will affect us as we pinch pennies now, so we will be strapped even more as we can’t work a little more or get a raise for cost of living.”
With Illinois already among the most taxed states in the country, many are already deciding to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, a record-setting 45,616 people fled the state in 2018, leaving Illinois as the only state in the Midwest to experience population decline this year.
The lost population marks the fifth straight year Illinois has seen a decline and pushed the number of now former residents to have left the state since 2000 to nearly 1.5 million.
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