ONARGA -- State Rep. Shane Cultra says it's tough representing an eastern Illinois rural community with Chicago Democrats calling the shots in the legislature, but the people of the 105th House District have sent him to Springfield to do a job. That job is to do his best to bring jobs and economic opportunities to his district, Cultra says, and he intends to do just that.
"Things have changed in downtown Onarga since I was a boy," Cultra said. "Then when you came to town on a Friday or Saturday, you had a hard time finding a parking spot, it was so busy. Now, we're having a difficult time getting businesses in town and keeping them."
The problem worsens, he says, as the next generation goes away to school and doesn't return because so few job opportunities are available. And the situation becomes even more complicated when the state's business fees and taxes continue to increase. Several 105th District businesses have moved to neighboring Indiana.
"We're hearing the governor could come back this year with a modified gross tax receipts tax increase," Cultra said. "Not knowing whether that will happen is detrimental to getting new businesses to move in. We need to change that."
Recently a trucking company, one of the district's larger businesses and employers, moved to Indiana.
"It's discouraging because Illinois has become so business unfriendly," Cultra said.
The 105th House District stretches from the central town of Savoy 100 miles north to Dwight and from the Indiana border west to Chenoa. It consists mainly of small towns and farms, making the district's economic interests focused on agriculture and small businesses.
"One positive step the legislature made this year was to form an economic development committee to find ways to help rural areas," Cultra said. Even though he serves as the committee's Republican spokeman, getting solutions passed is "a long shot."
"We definitely need more Republicans in the legislature, and we definitely need a different governor," he said. But Cultra, like most other Republicans, doesn't hold much hope that will happen this November.
"We'll have the 'Barack Obama factor' this election, and any possible gains the Republicans would pick up would be offset by all the Democrats coming out to vote for Obama," he said. "Most of the focus for Republicans now is on 2010."
Two years from now, the state will be voting for governor. That year the national census will be taken and by the 2012 election, new legislative district boundaries will be drawn to reflect the state's demographic changes. How those district maps are drawn will have a major effect on which party will dominate the legislature for the next decade.
"I think for Republicans to make inroads in Illinois, we'll need re-districting," he said. "I don't see how with the way things are now, that we will ever regain the majority."
Cultra is one of two Republican House members facing a primary challenge February 5, his first since taking office in 2002.
David Tomlinson, a school board member and local firefighter, grabbed notice last week when he received the Chicago Tribune's primary endorsement over the incumbent. Cultra said he hadn't responded to the Trib's questionnaire and was more interested in learning this week who the local Champaign Gazette News' picked.
"What I try to do is to run hard for re-election whether I have an opponent or not," he said. "I'm hoping all the footwork and groundwork I've done over the last few years will pay off."
Would Rep. Cultra ever consider running for state senator or congressman? He didn't hesitate for a second to answer. "I enjoy the job I have and am not looking for another job at this time," he said.
Rep. Cultra scored a 90 on the United Republican Fund's 2007 LIFT Illinois scorecard.
