Publications & Sites 
State GOP chair: Wisconsin on right track
Updated: June 18, 2012 1:33AM
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said this week’s speech at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce meeting in Springfield by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker highlights that Wisconsin is headed in the right direction, while Illinois continues to be one of the worst states in the nation financially.
“Instead of protesting Governor Walker’s speech, Illinois Democrats should be taking notes,” said Brady.
“Illinoisans filed their IL-1040s for the first time with a 75 percent increase in the state’s income tax rate,” said Brady. “Taxes in Illinois are going up while taxes in Wisconsin are going down.”
Brady also noted that Moody’s downgraded Illinois’ debt to the worst among the 50 states. In contrast, he said, Moody’s praised Walker’s budget as “credit positive for Wisconsin,” adding that his fiscal reforms bring “the state’s finances closer to a structural budgetary balance.”
As a result, Wisconsin jumped in Chief Executive magazine’s 2011 ranking of each state’s business climate, rising to 17th from 41st. Meanwhile, Illinois has dropped to 48th as ranked by the nation’s top chief executive officers.
“Governor Walker’s moves toward lower taxes and less government-spending should serve as a model for fixing our state’s broken economy,” Brady said. “Scott Walker stands in stark contrast to (Gov.) Pat Quinn, (House Speaker) Mike Madigan and (Senate President) John Cullerton who think that higher taxes and more government-spending is the solution, when, in fact, it is the problem,” said Brady.
