Amanda Biela is convinced the force needed to stop a trend that has seen Illinois lose more than 86,000 people and nearly $5 billion in adjusted gross income in just a year’s time runs through her.
“I’m going to Springfield to say enough is enough and make Illinois a place where taxpayers and businesses want to stay, grow and flourish," Biela, who is running to unseat Rep. John D’Amico (D-Chicago) in the 15th House District, said in a Facebook post responding to an IRS report that revealed those losses.
“If we don’t want to keep bleeding citizens to neighboring states, we need to elect representatives who will put a stop to this burdensome taxation,” she added.
15th House District Republican candidate Amanda Biela
In addition to the IRS findings, a recent Paul Simon Public Policy Institute survey found that nearly 50 percent of all Illinois residents now want to leave the state, with runaway taxes being cited as the top reason to exit.
Overall, the IRS data concluded that Illinois experienced a loss of nearly 42,000 tax returns to other states over the 2015-16 year, equating to an all-time high in lost exemptions.
Perhaps making matters even worse is the fact millennials are leading the charge in bolting the state. The top 10 states to which Illinois lost people were Florida (12,800 exemptions gained from Illinois on net), Texas (9,400), Indiana (8,200), California (7,600), Arizona (6,400), Wisconsin (6,000), Colorado (4,700), Georgia (4,200), Tennessee (3,600) and North Carolina (2,700).
A former Chicago teacher, Biela knows the combination of a dwindling population and a shrinking tax base isn’t a winning formula over the long haul.
“That’s 86,100 less parents and children, millennials and retirees, working-class tradesman and business professionals,” she added on Facebook. “Exorbitant property taxes coupled with a recent 32 percent income tax hike and a stream of never-ending smaller taxes (gas, phone, water bottles, plastic bags, etc) have caused folks to abandon the homes and communities they once loved for greener economic pastures.”
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