Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Democrats send mailers criticizing GOP votes on property tax freeze

Just days after a vote to freeze property taxes that Republicans decried as a stunt, Democrats sent mailers to at least some suburban voters trying to criticize GOP lawmakers for not supporting it.

The Illinois House Friday debated a proposal from state Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat, that would freeze how much local governments can ask of taxpayers. Most Republicans voted “present” and argued the plan was hastily written and didn’t match up with what Gov. Bruce Rauner is proposing.

By Monday, mailers criticizing state Rep. Sheri Jesiel’s vote landed in some Lake County mailboxes. She said she voted “present” — neither “yes” nor “no” — because the plan was a political game.

“It’s to put Republicans in the hot seat,” the Winthrop Harbor Republican said.

“It’s phony,” she said.

The mailers went to the districts of at least two other Republicans, a spokeswoman said. They were paid for by the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Party chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman said Democrats are pushing back against TV ads and mailers from the conservative group Americans for Prosperity that have pushed for a property tax freeze. The ads have largely targeted suburban Democrats.

“That’s just a front for the administration,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.

“We’re trying to inform the voters of what’s going on down here,” he said.

The political fighting via mailboxes and TV reflect the contentious fight that’s ongoing over the state’s finances as lawmakers face a deadline to finish a budget at the end of the month.

Democrats and Rauner have clashed over the governor’s proposed budget cuts, and Republicans have stung Democrats over test votes and hearings they say are political games.

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