CLINTON — Amidst the campaigning of Rep. Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic front runner J.B. Pritzker, most third party candidates face a tough road to get their names known.  But, Libertarian Matthew Scaro, of Chicago, has chosen to that road.

Scaro talked to the Clinton Journal recently about his campaign.  Among his priorities is developing ways to keep residents and businesses in the state.

“A healthy economy is the number one issue,” Scaro said.  “We should be doing everything we can to stop the outbound migration from Illinois,”

Scaro is an entrepreneur who became active in politics after reading about and then watching a YouTube video by former Libertarian Presidential candidate Ron Paul.  Scaro joined the 2016 campaign of Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, serving as Johnson’s Illinois Events Coordinator.

Among his positions, Scaro is in favor of a 1 percent cap on property taxes to slow migration out of the state.  He said school districts could compensate for lower property tax revenue by consolidating districts in some areas and reducing their number of administrators, shifting those funds to other uses.  He said reducing administrative staff also would help ease the education pension fund crisis in Illinois.

Although he said he is not a recreational marijuana user, he believes in decriminalizing such use.  He Scaro also said commercial hemp production in Illinois should be considered to eliminate the import into the state of about $5 million in hemp annually from Canada.  Hemp is used in a variety of consumer and commercial products.

Scaro said as he travels around the state, he hears different concerns from downstate voters versus people of the Chicago area.

He said people around the state he had talked to want downstate areas on an equal footing with Chicago.

“They’re tired of tax dollars being funneled into Chicago,” Scaro said. 

Scaro also is in favor of a balanced budget and term limits.

See more 

at https://mcs4il.com

In the 2016 gubernatorial election, 3.35 percent of Illinois voters voted Libertarian.  About 50 percent voted Republican, 46 percent Democratic.