Seth McMillan (left) with his family.
Seth McMillan (left) with his family.
Senate candidate Seth McMillan commented on social media about a recent study that attempts to explain small-business owners’ dissatisfaction with the state’s business climate.
“Chicago politicians like (House Speaker) Mike Madigan and (Sen.) Andy Manar have demonized business owners small and large,” McMillan wrote on Facebook. “We have to build up our local economies, not tear them down.”
McMillan posted a link with his statement to the Illinois News Network’s (INN) story about Thumbtack’s yearly poll of the small-business community.
Sen. Andy Manar
“Business owners in Illinois gave the state an ‘F’ on overall business friendliness,” INN writer Cole Lauterbach wrote. “The state’s poor grades put it 50th out of 50, worse than previous years.”
McMillan, who is running against incumbent Manar (D-Bunker Hill) for the 48th Senate District, blamed the political system under Madigan (D-Chicago) for causing the dissatisfaction.
To back up his claims about the caustic business environment, McMillan posted a link to a FOX-32 Chicago editorial about high state taxes. The video blamed the state’s 15 percent state and local tax rate for the outmigration of 700,000 residents over 13 years.
“The main reason for the heavy tax burden is that Illinois imposes the highest property taxes in the country,” said Dennis Welsh, the station’s vice president and general manager. “The average Illinois homeowner pays 6.4 percent of their annual income to property taxes — twice the national average.”
McMillan suggested lowering taxes as a remedy for the state’s business woes.
“More good-paying jobs employ people, fund schools and services, and help more people live a life they can be proud of,” he wrote. "My opponent voted for Mike Madigan’s 32 percent income-tax hike and he wants to raise taxes again on hard-working people in the 48th.”
The 48th Senate District includes all or parts of Madison, Montgomery, Christian, Macon and Shelby counties.
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