ELECT AJAY GUPTA TO
THE ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

I am running to be your State Representative in Illinois House District 41

I am a Naperville resident, an immigrant, a tax lawyer, a financial economist, and the common-sense candidate for state representative in Illinois House District 41. I was trained as a lawyer at Harvard, with a tax specialization from NYU, and have graduate degrees in finance from Yale and economics from Stanford. I have practiced law for over two decades, including a stint as a federal prosecutor, served as an economic consultant, commented and published on state and federal policy issues, and have taught some of these topics at Chicago-area law schools for the last 10 years. 

I fully understand the urgency of restoring fiscal sanity to Illinois. The state’s crushing unfunded pension liabilities, exceeding $140 billion, and uncontrolled spending continue to drive taxes higher. Illinois’ property taxes and gasoline taxes are the second highest in the nation. It has the eighth-highest combined state and local sales taxes. Between 2018 and 2023, over 460,000 Illinoisans fled to other states, almost all moving to lower-tax states like Florida, Texas, and Indiana. This exodus, particularly of prime working-age adults and high earners, further shrank the state’s tax base. In 2022 alone, outward migration resulted in a net loss of $9.9 billion in adjusted gross income 

I propose enacting spending caps tied to inflation and population growth to prevent unsustainable budget increases. I would pursue structural reforms to address the state's unfunded public pension liabilities, including advocating for a constitutional amendment to stabilize pension funding and reduce the burden on local property taxes. I aim to redirect local funds to classrooms by having the state assume responsibility for teacher pensions, easing fiscal pressures on school districts. 

Illinois faces a fork in the road. Common-sense policies embracing spending restraint, pension reform, and competitive taxation could turn the situation around, reattracting residents and businesses and ushering in economic growth. But continuing down this path of ever high taxes, unchecked pension liabilities, and overspending will only accelerate the departure of hard-working Illinoisans to other states, further eroding the tax base, and pushing the state toward a deepening fiscal and demographic crisis.