East Central Reporter

Republican state House hopeful Chris Miller has had enough of all the gimmicks associated with state government.

“The state of Illinois would be much better off just adopting a more business-friendly environment,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “That’s what we need; then we wouldn’t have to be offering special perks to anyone just to think about coming here. Illinois could stand as the attraction it should be without all the missteps and giveaways going on in Springfield.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Illinois lawmakers dished out $420 million in state tax breaks to TV and film companies in hopes of attracting more of that industry to the state over a decade-long period.  

Shirley Bell

“If politicians were doing the things they should be doing for this state, everything would take care of itself and there would be no need for desperate acts like this,” said Miller, running against Democrat Shirley Bell in the 110th District. “It’s all the dysfunction and bad policy that’s led to this big mess in Illinois.”

Approximately 1,817 television and film production companies received such tax breaks, though what they did to earn them remains a mystery, the Sun-Times states. The state has never viewed the spreadsheets of the companies gifted with the deductions.

Miller thinks he knows why so many lawmakers are willing to shell out the tax breaks at a time when the state is still teetering on the brink of financial ruin.

“I think part of the problem is a lot of politicians are only concerned about getting re-elected,” he said. “They try to play both sides of an issue, and in the end, that leads to bad policy. (House Speaker) Mike Madigan has a 35-year losing streak that won’t change until the voters change it for him by removing him from power.”

It’s that lack of leadership emanating from Springfield that seemingly has the state plagued by corruption at every turn, Miller said.

Federal prosecutors recently moved to indict longtime Chicago Teamsters boss John T. Coli Sr., alleging that he extorted Cinespace Chicago Film Studios co-founder Alex Pissios out of $325,000 by threatening to stage work stoppages at the West Side studio where such productions as “Chicago Fire” and “Empire” are filmed.

It was Coli who introduced Pissios to many of the Democratic lawmakers who earmarked the $31 million in grants he used to construct Cinespace, the Deadline Hollywood website states.

“The road to recovery starts with firing Mike Madigan,” Miller said. “I’ve always said any tax relief coming to this state needs to be going to the citizens because they are the ones that have been so abused.”

The 110th House District includes Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar and Lawrence counties.