Month: January 2023

13th State Central Committee Application Period Now Open

Due to the resignation of Tim Butler from the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy has declared a vacancy in the Illinois Republican State Central Committee’s 13th District. The 13th District Congressional Committee is responsible for appointing a new State Central Committeeman to represent the 13th District. The committee has opened the application process until 5:00 PM Friday, February 3, 2023. If you are interested in serving as the 13th District State Central Committeeman and meet all of the requirements, please submit your application to the Illinois Republican Party’s Executive Director Shaun McCabe.

Serving on the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, State Central Committeemen responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Establish, organize, and promote the operations of the Illinois Republican Party
• Attend and participate in quarterly State Central Committee meetings
• Attend local GOP meetings and functions
• Conduct the business of ILGOP State Convention

For the application, please click the link below

Fresh off voting to give themselves massive pay raises, Illinois Democrats are at it again. This time, they’re talking about reviving JB Pritzker’s failed 2020 tax referendum that would raise taxes on middle-class families and businesses which was resoundingly defeated 55-45% by the voters.

From Crain’s Chicago Business yesterday afternoon, “asserting that the second time could be the charm, a veteran Illinois lawmaker is preparing a new effort to get the state to enact a graduated income tax. In a phone interview, Sen. Rob Martwick, who represents portions of Chicago’s Northwest Side and adjacent suburbs, said he still believes the state, and particularly middle-class families, need the income and lower property taxes, respectively, that a graduated income tax would bring, even though voters in 2020 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to do that by about a 10-point margin.”

“First they voted to give themselves self-congratulatory pay raises, now Illinois Democrats are talking about reviving Governor Pritzker’s rejected tax referendum to help pay for them,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “If the past week is any indication, we’re in for two years of massively out-of-touch overreach by Illinois Democrats, that sadly Illinois voters will be asked to foot the bill for. I don’t recall a single Democrat campaigning on these issues last fall.” 

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Illinois Should Enforce Existing Laws to Curb the Gun Violence Epidemic – Not Go After Law Abiding Gun Owners 

This week, Governor Pritzker signed into law a bill banning law-abiding gun owners from purchasing certain types of firearms and requiring registration of some guns already owned.  “While the epidemic of gun violence in Illinois is tragic and very real, we strongly disagree that this bill is the solution to it. Instead, it only infringes on the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners to bear arms safely and legally,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “It should be noted that Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and yet still had the most murders in the US last year. This bill will do nothing to deter criminals from committing these heinous crimes, yet it infringes significantly on the constitutional freedoms of law-abiding Illinoisans who use firearms safely and responsibly.” 723 people were murdered in Chicago in 2022. Tragically, that is more than any other major city in the US, despite having some of our nation’s toughest gun laws. Under the watch of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the city has far too often taken a lax approach to prosecuting violent crime. According to the Chicago Tribune, “For the three-year period analyzed, Foxx’s office dropped 8.1% of homicide cases, compared with 5.3% under Alvarez.”  In 2021, the Chicago State’s Attorney initially refused to press charges in a deadly gang shootout due to it being “mutual combat”. Charges were ultimately filed months later.  Chairman Tracy continued, “The criminals are the problem, and when instead of enforcing the laws that we have on the books, Democrats go after law-abiding gun owners, it sends the wrong message. We need more cops on the streets, and when criminals commit violent crimes, instead of letting them go, we should fully prosecute them, and support the law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to arrest them. Instead of violating the Second Amendment, we should enforce existing gun laws to curb this horrible violence epidemic.”

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After rewarding themselves with massive pay raises, Illinois Democrats are once again drunk on power, and have moved to weaken signature requirements on absentee ballots.  During the 2022 election, the DuPage County Clerk chose to flout the letter of the law by not requiring that signatures on returned vote-by-mail ballots be matched to the official signatures on file for those voters.  A DuPage County judge rebuked the Clerk for this practice. “Use of the Vote by Mail ballot application to qualify signatures on the Vote by Mail ballot itself would be an obvious way to commit ballot fraud.” Now, instead of abiding by the law – or strengthening it with common sense measures like voter ID –  Democrats have decided to do away with the requirement altogether.  “When the rules don’t go the Democrats’ way in Illinois, they use their massive supermajorities to change them in their favor. First they voted to give themselves massive pay raises, next they voted to weaken signature verification requirements on absentee ballots.”

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While Illinois families struggle with higher cost-of-living and rising taxes, Illinois Democrats have voted to reward themselves after the election with massive pay raises. Consistent with fiscally responsible governance in this time of economic uncertainty, all Republican legislators voted against this historic salary increase.  Under the law which passed the legislature last week, the Democrat Lt. Governor, Democrat Comptroller, and Democrat Treasurer will receive 13.9% pay raises beginning when they are sworn in this week. The Democrat Attorney General and Democrat Secretary of State will receive 10.8% pay raises, and all Illinois State Legislators will receive raises of 18.4%. Democrat agency directors will also see substantial pay increases.  “If Illinois Democrats have proven one thing over the years, it’s that they love enacting unpopular policies after elections to avoid the ire of voters during election season. They passed cashless bail and postponed the gas tax increase until after the election, and Chicago Democrats deferred property tax bills – all to avoid accountability with voters. Now, they’ve voted to raise their own pay. Illinois voters want fiscal sanity and responsible government, not tone-deaf pay raises for the Democrats and their allies,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “It’s clear that this is self-benefiting overreach by Democrats reading the wrong mandate from the November elections. If Governor Pritzker signs this bill into law, Illinois voters should hold these legislators accountable next election.” If signed into law by Governor Pritzker, the nearly 20% pay hike will make Illinois legislators the 4th highest paid in the country, behind California, New York, and Pennsylvania.

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