Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) believes the findings in a new federal agency report proves his point that Springfield lawmakers rarely make things better for the common taxpayer.
“This last go around, all we did was make things harder on people in Illinois,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “Everything we’ve done negatively impacts the working poor, middle class, people on fixed income and senior citizens. It makes life harder on those people.”
Miller said the news that a Federal Housing Finance Agency report concludes that over the last decade, average home prices in Illinois have dropped by 21 percent while property taxes have soared by nearly half that much after adjusting for inflation is another example of the dysfunction of state government.
Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland)
“The only people not complaining are government employees making as much as $30,000 a month in pensions on the dime of taxpayers,” Miller said. “People are leaving Illinois because taxes keep going up and opportunities keep shrinking.”
Illinois Policy Institute adds that much of the most recent taxation has come at a time when the state is still struggling to recover from the last housing-market crash, with home values across the state 300 percent worse than the national average. Researchers conclude that those figures at least partly explain why overall population has been down in Illinois in each of the last five years.
“People are starting to figure out they don’t have to live in Illinois,” Miller said. “It all just circles back to [the fact that] we’re doubling down on things that make life harder for the people of Illinois.”
Miller said that by talking with the people of his district and other voters across the state, he has found some hope that things may soon change.
“I think the citizens of Illinois are waking up, while many of the lawmakers are still asleep,” Miller said. “They live in such a bubble where they’re either in denial or they don’t see the reality of what’s going on.”
Alerts Sign-up