Darren Bailey has built his Republican primary campaign in the 109th House District on a platform of being part of the movement to clean up Springfield.
“We’ve got to change the status quo,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News. “In Latin, the phrase status quo ... means the mess we’re in. That’s Springfield, and that’s what we’ve desperately got to change.”
The latest development leaving the Xenia Republican at a loss for words centers on reports that, with all the state’s issues, legislators are scheduled to be in session for less than 20 days between now and April. All the while collecting their annual salaries of $67,000.
“It’s worse than just business as usual,” added Bailey, who is running against Rep. Dave Reis (R-Willow Springs) in the Republican primary. “We’re destroying our state, our finances and our system of government.”
Bailey said things like having no term limits, transparency or accountability has allowed Springfield lawmakers to become too comfortable and too focused on just serving their own interests.
“I look at other states and there are politicians who still have full-time jobs,” he said. “They don’t get to just settle in and only concern themselves with getting re-elected to keep the gravy train going.”
Bailey said people like Reis are only part of the problem.
“I supported him for years and listened to him talk about how much he was fighting for the people of his community while getting nothing done,” he said. “We deserve and demand more than that. The last straw for me in deciding to launch my campaign was when they implemented the tax hike as part of the new state budget with no hint of reforms.”
Bailey added all the dysfunction is now fueling the flight from Illinois, with Census Bureau data showing that 115,000 people fled the state for other states on net from July 2016 to July 2017 and since 2010 that number swells to nearly 643,000.
“My question is how long did they think this could go on,” Bailey said. “The audacity for them to think that this could just keep happening unchecked is amazing.”
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