West Cook News

Small business help build communities, but excessive government regulations and taxes in Illinois are pushing them out and it must be stopped, Katy Dolan Baumer, Republican candidate for the 44th District state House seat, told the West Cook News.

Baumer said she knows the struggles small business owners face. She has witnessed the effect of government regulations and taxes on them first hand in her own business and as a former local chamber of commerce president. Most of the small businesses in Streamwood, her hometown, are home-based because they can't afford the fees imposed on them by the government if they move into a separate building, she said. The costs also severely limit their ability to hire employees.

When her own business was booming Baumer said she was only able to hire temporary employees because of the costs of required workers' compensation, insurance and the prevailing wage set by the government for permanent employees. These issues need to be addressed immediately, she said.

“The challenges of small businesses are many, not the least of which are unfair practices put on them by legislatures,” Baumer said. “So much of what the legislators do just enforces the nanny state and it's just sickening.”

The government doesn't take into consideration that not all small business owners can afford to allow employees to take paid sick leave for a family or extended family member, she said, or allow a position to remain unfilled for 12 weeks for an employee who is domestic violence victim. These issues are not the government's responsibility. Instead, they should be worked out between the employer and employee, she said. Requiring wages to be set by collective bargaining agreements doesn't make sense either, Baumer said. It should be up to the employer and employee to decide how much a position will pay.

"The government is supposed to take care of the infrastructure and provide national security, not tell people how to run their business and lives,” Baumer said. “They weren't supposed to come in our house and tell us what kind of light built to use.”

If elected Baumer said she will encourage her fellow legislators to “step out of people's homes.” She said people are smart enough to make their own decisions.

Every time she goes out and hears how upset the people are Baumer is convinced she is doing the right thing for the people in her community. The people are hard-working, but they are not rich and can't afford what the government is doing to them, she said.

A health scare motivated Baumer to dedicate her life to improving the lives of others.

“I'm not doing it for money, I'm not doing it for popularity. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do,” Baumer said. “I'm just so passionate about it. I think if we are put on this earth to make a change and to make our lives better and to make the lives of our fellow man better. We are obligated to do that.”

The government can help small businesses by having a small business advisory commission look at the bills the legislature is putting in place. It can then help change unreasonable laws that are having a negative impact on small businesses, Baumer said. Unlike large corporations, small businesses don't have the money to fight back against unreasonable legislation on their own.

Baumer said the record of her opponent, Fred Crespo (D-Streamwood), shows he has consistently voted against the best interest of small businesses. If the legislature continues to vote against small businesses, there will be no small businesses left, she said.

"Small businesses built America. They help their communities to prosper, they help make their communities attractive, and they help to employ people in their communities, she said. When the legislature makes ridiculous bills then towns collapse," Baumer said.