Battling the Odds in Illinois: Asst. Minority Leader John Cabello

When ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson asked Illinois Assistant Minority Leader John Cabello what inspired a run for office, he admitted it had nothing to do with ambition and everything to do with survival.

“I saw my taxes going up and up and up, and they couldn’t give me good roads or good schools,” said Cabello. “So instead of complaining on the sidelines, I decided to jump in the game.”

That decision set off a legislative career defined by uphill battles. Facing a supermajority – when one party controls at least three-fifths of the vote in Illinois – the goal shifts to preventing harmful legislation from ever reaching the governor’s desk.

“Illinois is so different from the northern part of the state to the southern part of the state, and then you have Chicago,” he explained. “Trying to keep everybody together and pushing the same direction — that’s the real challenge.”

The Illinois Dilemma

Illinois ranks 46th overall in the Rich States, Poor States for economic outlook. Several factors, including heavy taxation, overregulation, and the loss of more than 1.1 million residents over the past decade, put the Land of Lincoln in this precarious position. But Cabello believes the solution can be found right around the corner.

“Look at Indiana,” he said. “They were going down the same path we were…within three or four years, the policies they enacted totally changed the trajectory of the state. We don’t have to be smart — just recreate what works.”

Unfortunately, the current supermajority appears focused on maintaining the status quo. That means Illinois taxpayers will be losing more of their paycheck in the coming years.

 “Our taxpayers are treated like ATMs,” Cabello said. “Give me more money, give me more money. We’ve got the highest tax rates in the country, the highest property taxes, and our sales tax is through the roof. Our businesses are leaving, our people are leaving.”

“They’re leaving because they’re paying too much in taxes,” said Nelson.

“Exactly,” Cabello said. “Why don’t we find ways of bringing people back? That’s by having a business-friendly environment, lowering the property taxes, lowering the income tax, and watching people come back.”

When Washington Sets Prices

Richard “Dick” Durbin has represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate for nearly three decades. In that time, his signature achievement has been the so-called Durbin Amendment—a federal rule regulating credit-card fees. Now Illinois is attempting to replicate it at the state level. Cabello, among others, is not impressed.

“It’s done the exact opposite of what it promised,” he said. “It’s cost people more money. You’ve lost benefits that banks used to offer, like free checking. And in Illinois, they took a page out of his playbook — passed a swipe-fee law with no hearings, no debate, a backroom deal with the governor.”

Worse still, the promised savings never reach the people they were meant to help.

“They’re not passing any savings down,” Nelson added. “The big box stores already negotiate a smaller fee. Nobody’s doing that for the mom-and-pop shops.”

“If you see Illinois doing this, do the exact opposite,” Cabello responded. “Every place that Illinois is leading, no other state wants to be there. We live in opposite world.”

The High Cost of Doing Business

When learning about the state of affairs in Springfield, Nelson was more disappointed than surprised.

“You’d think a year-round legislature would focus on what actually helps the people of Illinois,” said Nelson. “But that doesn’t seem to be the priority.”

Cabello had to agree.

“It’s a poor way of running a government,” he said. “A poor way of being good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars.”

While the odds are stacked against him, Cabello also knows that change never starts with a majority – it starts with a few people willing to stand up and say, “enough.” For Illinois to reclaim its promise, lawmakers will need to remember who they serve and why they ran in the first place. Until then, Cabello will keep fighting one bad idea at a time.