SPRINGFIELD – Last week, longtime State Rep. Jerry Costello resigned to accept a plush job heading the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The 116th District's local Democrats picked son of former State Rep. Dan Reitz, Nathan Reitz, to fill Costello's open seat.
President Trump carried the 116th in 2016 with 66% of the vote.
Former State Rep. Costello was on record opposing Pritzker's tax hike. Where will Nathan Reitz land on the issue?
“Nathan Reitz’s first big decision as a new representative will be to decide whether he stands with middle class families in his district by opposing the unfair Jobs Tax or be just another Springfield politician bought and paid for by JB Pritzker and Speaker Madigan,” said Ideas Illinois' Greg Baise.
But that may not happen, the Illinois GOP said. Costello may have used his anti-tax hike position to maneuver his way into his new plush job – and move into place a vote badly needed.
"The fix is in. One of the last votes Nathan Reitz's father, former State Rep. Dan Reitz, took was Mike Madigan's 2011 tax hike," IL GOP State Chairman Tim Schnedier said in a statement. "Now, Pritzker and Madigan want one of the first votes of Nathan Reitz to be yet another tax hike on Illinois families and small businesses.
"Tax-hiking is the Reitz family business. Reitz must follow Jerry Costello's lead and oppose the Pritzker-Madigan-backed graduated income tax. If Reitz supports the tax hike, voters and taxpayers will make Reitz's tenure in the General Assembly a short one."
