(The Center Square) – A group of twenty Illinois House Republicans has formed a new group to promote structural and ethical reforms in Springfield.
A statement from the members of the new Illinois Taxpayer Freedom Caucus said the group will attempt to tackle major fiscal issues and structural imbalances that stifle the state’s ability to grow.
“We just got a group of members that are looking to better unify around issues that truly affect taxpayers and affect the pocketbooks of families and small businesses,” said state Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford. “We want to rally around better government, better policies, and those things that are going to structurally fix Illinois so we can be a successful state that doesn't lose population and that can hopefully grow.”
Sosnowski said the recent failure of the Illinois Property Tax Relief Task Force to produce a final report was a factor in the forming of the caucus. He believes lawmakers won’t be short on ideas for change.
“Everything from pensions to healthcare to just our overall spending in the state of Illinois,” Sosnowski said. “We've seen that we're the worst-performing state in the nation, and so the list is a mile long as far as things that we need to change.”
The group is designed to push back against the majority in the capital that Sosnowski said has become too unaccountable and operates without a proper check. He said he believes the caucus will help give an additional emphasis to particular issues and encourage members to stick together.
“If we look at what's happened in Illinois, how we've lost tens of thousands of jobs each year, it's obvious our current policies are not successful,” Sosnowski said. “You don't grow jobs by making the cost of doing business more expensive and harder to do with greater regulations. We've seen states around us have grown and it's not because their weather is so much better than Illinois.”
Sosnowski said policies favored by Democrats in Springfield have poisoned the business environment in the state.
“We don't have philosophies on the other side of the aisle that are trying to help working families, trying to help small businesses grow and create jobs,” Sosnowski said. “We have a philosophy that we're fighting against that's just dependency on government.”
The caucus still will operate inside the Republican party and Sosnowski said its creation should not be seen as a critique of GOP leadership in the House.
“We've got a variety of caucuses that focus on some different issues, whether it's agriculture or transportation or universities,” Sosnowski said. “This is just another caucus, another outlet that brings like-minded policies and people together.”
Other members of the Taxpayer Freedom Caucus include Representatives John Cabello, Blaine Wilhour, Andrew Chesney, Dan Caulkins, Brad Halbrook, Chris Miller, Allen Skillicorn, Darren Bailey, David McSweeney, Amy Grant, Terri Bryant, Randy Freese, Dave Severin, Tom Morrison, Tom Weber, Patrick Windhorst, Dan Swanson, Charlie Meier and Tony McCombie.
