Macon Reporter

Marsha Webb, a candidate for State Representative District 107, expressed her concerns and commitment towards addressing the issues of rising taxes, education, and parents’ rights in Illinois during a recent interview with TECN.TV. Webb emphasized the far-reaching impact of increasing taxes on residents irrespective of their geographic location in the state. This includes growing energy costs that have led to doubling power bills over the past year, adding to the financial burdens of families.

“Everybody is feeling it,” Webb said. “I don’t care if you’re in a metropolitan area or if you’re in small towns or if you’re in a rural area. We don’t have affordable energy. You know, I know personally our power bills have more than doubled in the last year, you know? We never had a power bill over $200. Now we’re paying close to $400 (and) $400 a month of groceries. The inflation and taxes. I mean, it’s just tax after tax. We have to get back to what I call the Reaganomics approach.”

Webb's dedication to reforming education in Illinois was also evident throughout the interview. She voiced her ambition to improve educational opportunities for students across the state while asserting that parents should play a more active role in their children’s education.

“We’ve got some wonderful school districts, butt the majority are not teaching our children the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and true history, not rewritten history and true history in Illinois,” she said. “I’m just going to throw the average out there. Three to only 3 to 9% of our third graders can academically perform at their grade level – that’s put out by the Illinois Family Institute. Break down the research. And in my opinion, until these scores are in the 90th percentile, the facts are simple that the schools are failing our children. Mm hmm. The basics only should be taught. You think they shouldn’t be being taught anything other than the basics? Okay, You take this pornographic sex and throw it out the window. That’s in doctrine and grooming.”

In terms of parental rights within education, Webb advocates for a system where tax dollars follow the child to promote school choice. 

“Parents have to be given the right to seek the best school for their children and have a say in the curriculum that’s being taught,” she said. “So we need to have the tax dollars follow the child. Well, okay. We need school choice. Mm hmm. They need school vouchers. Your child goes to school a and you say, No, I’m taking them to school. That’s all. Loses that tax money, whether it be in another school, a charter school, private school, parochial or home school, those tax dollars for that child. And we were to start that you would see the public education system change overnight because you from your pocket, you hit them where it hurts.”

Power bills for Ameren customers downstate soared into 2023 due to shortfalls caused by legislation changes such as Illinois’ nation-leading Climate and Equitable Jobs Act signed by Pritzker which resulted in blackouts and doubled power bills in early 2022. Meghan Hassett, Midwest Campaign Manager for the Center for Policy Advocacy, acknowledged these problems in a blog post for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Energy bills for downstate Ameren customers have been skyrocketing in 2023 and doubled in early 2022 amid blackout increases after Pritzker signed legislation creating shortfalls in energy production.

“Some grid operators blamed coal plant retirements, pointed to state policy changes like Illinois’ nation-leading Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, and promoted fossil fuels as a reliability solution,” Hassett, Midwest Campaign Manager for the Center for Policy Advocacy, posted in a blog for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Webb’s focus on education comes amid continued talks to extend the Invest in Kids Tax Scholarship program. Those talks hit a rocky patch as the General Assembly kicked off the veto session two weeks ago.

Despite there being 26,000 children on the waiting list to receive the scholarship funds, Democrats in the House have proposed House Bill 4194, a compromise to scale back Illinois’ Invest in Kids program, reducing the annual funding from $75 million to $50 million and halving the largest possible donation tax to a scholarship fund from $1 million to $500,000. They also plan to adjust the tax credit to incentivize smaller donors and make scholarships more targeted toward students from low-income areas.

Senate Republican leader John Curran expressed a willingness to accept the proposed changes, recognizing the need for compromise to extend the program, although some ultra-conservative lawmakers prefer an extension and expansion of the program.

House District 107 includes Shelby, Christian, Moultrie, Effingham, Macon, Montgomery, and Cumberland counties. It is currently represented by State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville).