House District 54 race features candidates with business experience

Both candidates vying for the Illinois House District 54 seat have backgrounds running small businesses and agree that the state has failed to create a positive environment for business but disagree on how the state can fix it.

Incumbent Tom Morrison, a Palatine Republican, was the president of a fire and water cleanup and restoration franchise called Servpro from 2005 until 2011. Democratic challenger Laddi Singh is the CEO of Professional Diagnostic Services, a medical testing company in Hoffman Estates.

One business issue they disagree on is the state's minimum wage.

Singh, a Palatine resident, said she supports raising the current minimum wage of $8.25 because she doesn't feel it is enough money to live on and said she has never paid an employee less than $9 or $10 an hour.

"I am a business woman but at the same time I am a human being," Singh said. "I always put myself in their shoes. I do the calculation to see if this person can pay their bills. I want to make sure they reach their goals."

Morrison said he also always paid more than minimum wage because he wanted to attract a better quality employee. He said merely raising the minimum wage would not necessarily mean businesses would be getting a better employee, just a more expensive one.

Another point of contention between the two candidates is whether the state should extend the temporary income tax passed in January 2011.

Morrison, who elected in 2010 but was not sworn in until after the tax passed, said the tax hurts people and business and was supposed to only exist to get the state through the recession.

"Now here we are talking about making it permanent," Morrison said. "We need to fulfill the promise to the residents of Illinois that this is going to be a temporary tax."

Singh said she supports extending the tax only if the state isn't able to find new sources of revenue because it will be difficult for Illinois to provide essential services without the tax hike.

Morrison is at a significant advantage in campaign cash. According to the State Board of Elections website, Morrison reported just over $58,300 on hand on his quarterly report in July. Since that report, his campaign has reported 16 large donations totaling $44,300.

Singh reported just over $10,400 on hand in her quarterly report in July and has not reported any contributions over $1,000 since then.

Singh, a newcomer to campaigning, said she has enjoyed meeting constituents and no matter the election's result she plans to do her part to improve the district.

Morrison said he is running for re-election because he believes that he and his party have the bold ideas necessary to fix the state.