North Cook News

The commuter rail system rate hike is yet another example of politicians pushing for more money, according to Katie Miller.

Miller, who is running in the Republican primary in the 53rd House District, told the North Cook News regardless of the recent fare hike, Metra is not performing any better than it did four years ago and a majority of people would agree with her.

“There needs to be structural reform at Metra,” Miller said.

Miller, who is vying for the seat being vacated by Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights), said after past fare increases, Metra CEO James Derwinski received a raise of $28,000.

Miller, a longtime nurse at St. Alexius in Hoffman Estates and case manager at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, said it is possible to change the culture of taxing and spending in Springfield, and if elected, she would work to reduce the recent Metra rate hike that charges $195.75 for a monthly pass and decrease the one-way pass from $6.75 to $5.25 from Arlington Heights to downtown Chicago.

“We as a state need to change how government is done here,” Miller, who is seeking the 53rd District seat, which covers Prospect Heights and Mt. Prospect, said. “We need to improve performance.”

She said taxpayers already are paying some of the nation’s highest property, income and sales taxes and raising the Metra fare will only cause more out-migration.

“It is driving people to move out of Illinois,” Miller said. “The only way we can decrease taxes is by controlling spending. We need to budget and stay within the budget like families and businesses who control their budgets.”

She said every time Illinoisans turn their head, their leaders are coming up with new ways to take more and more of their hard-earned money and “all the while the quality of services is going down.”

“I’m going to Springfield because I know that we aren’t piggy banks to fund government even though they treat us like we are,” Miller said.