North Cook News

Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) views recently departed GOP lawmaker Jeanne Ives as being in a class all by herself.

“I describe her as Illinois’s version of Margaret Thatcher,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “To say that she is not the typical politician is a great understatement. She is very much a woman with principles and the courage and ability to fight for those principles.”

Ives, a Republican representative from Wheaton, left Springfield after six years and having given up her seat in the 42nd District to run against Gov. Bruce Rauner in the Republican primary. She didn’t go quietly.

Tom Morrison

In a lengthy letter to supporters and constituents posted on her website on Jan. 9, she touched on many of the issues she believes are still critical if the state is to ever have any chance of recovering from the malaise that has hovered over it for the last several years.

Ives sounded the alarm over everything from how her own property taxes have spiraled by 13 percent since she’s been in Springfield to how the state’s economy has grown stagnant at a time when state debt and unfunded pension liabilities have ballooned, all of it leading to an outmigration crisis that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  

“As a percent of home value, Illinois is number two for the highest property taxes in the nation,” Ives wrote. “Chicagoans, though, have much less effective property taxes than most of the rest of the state. Illinois is insolvent; we should be the economic powerhouse of the Midwest, but we are losing to our slimmer, sexier sister Indiana—to Iowa—to every neighboring state.”

Ives went on to implore taxpayers to demand more from their leaders, putting on full dispaly the fiery spirit she is most known for, which Morrison insists surely will now be missed in Springfield.

“Jeanne Ives demonstrated real commitment to taxpayers and families of the state of Illinois,” he said. “She took her role and responsibility very seriously, far more than a lot of other members on both sides of aisle. An example of her work ethic can be seen in the number of committees she signed up for [nine] so she could be well prepared for all bills that made it to the House floor.”

In the end, Morrison said, Illinois would be much better off if there were more people in Springfield like Ives.  

“The state would be on a better path and voters would be much better informed,” he said. “I’m just grateful for her service to this state and the country. I think she will stay in public policy, which is a good thing and will help those of us still in Springfield fighting for taxpayers.”