State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) released the following statement regarding Chicago Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson’s address to a joint session of the Illinois Senate and House:
“We all want the best for the City of Chicago, we all want the best for the state of Illinois. But the reality is that if we want to help the people that live here, we have to change the policy direction of the state. I thought the Chamber was a moral vacuum, because we know people in Chicago and people across Illinois are hurting, but there was no contrition for the failed policies that put kids in failing schools and have caused mayhem and violence in the streets.
“I think Brandon Johnson’s plans for the City of Chicago are like a buffet of the same failed left-wing ideas, the very policies that have created the mess that the city is in right now. If spending more money correlated with good government, then Chicago would be the best run city in the world. Kids in the Chicago Public School system have far more money spent on them compared to the students in my district, but they’re still locked into failing schools and in constant danger out on the streets. The violence over the past weekend shows exactly what things are like in the city right now.
“Johnson’s plans for raising taxes and going soft on crime will guarantee that violence remains out of control, and will send a message that businesses, jobs, and tourists aren’t welcome or safe there.”