Gov. hopeful Brady bashes suburban competition
State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington ripped into some of his suburban challengers in the Republican governor's primary Monday for opening the possibility to tax hikes if elected.
Brady, running for governor for a second time, said during a Daily Herald editorial board meeting that the specter of tax hikes keeps businesses out of the state.
"When they open the door to tax increases, all they do is push away those further investments that would keep jobs in Illinois," he said.
In the seven-person GOP primary field for governor, at least state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale and former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan won't completely rule out tax hikes to fix the state's budget shortfall - now looming at about $11 billion. But both have said they will first focus on aggressive cost cutting and job creation to balance the budget.
Other candidates in the race are DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville, former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna of Chicago, conservative commentator Dan Proft of Chicago and Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski.
Brady has taken a firm stance against tax hikes. He is calling for a 10 percent across-the-board cut in spending, a move that will also hit public schools and universities.
"There would be no sacred cow," Brady said.
Brady, who served seven years in the state House and has been in the Senate since 2002, is also calling for tax incentives for businesses to hire more employees and for reforming workers' compensation.
Brady also went on the attack against Dillard, Ryan and Schillerstrom Monday for supporting a recent sales tax hike. Ryan and Schillerstrom backed a quarter-cent sales tax hike referendum in DuPage County. And Dillard and Schillerstrom supported a half-cent sales tax hike to bail out DuPage County and avert drastic fair hikes and service cuts at Metra, Pace and the CTA. The 2008 half-cent sales tax hike meant the quarter-cent referendum wasn't needed. It failed at the ballot box.
Brady said voters in the Chicago area are tired of local politicians and apt to give a downstater like himself a chance to run the show.
Ryan, Dillard and Schillerstrom have all defended their support of the tax increase as a necessity to fund public services like law enforcement and transit.
"This is a northeast corner problem," Brady said of the state's politics. "People here don't represent the people as much as they do their own political interest."
All seven of the GOP contenders for governor have met with the Daily Herald editorial board. The primary is Feb. 2.