It’s So Illinois

I couldn’t help but get the giggle when I read the remarks of the editors of the Wall Street Journal:

Delaying a tax increase is Democrats’ idea of a tax cut. But Democrats worried they wouldn’t get political credit for this act of political beneficence so they required gas stations to post “clearly visible” signs, at least four by eight inches, stating in bold print that “As of July 1, 2022, the State of Illinois has suspended the inflation adjustment to the motor fuel tax through December 31, 2022.”

Gas stations that fail to post the signs are guilty of a petty offense and could be fined $500 a day—this in a state where shoplifters often go unprosecuted. Democrats weren’t shy about their political motive.

During a legislative hearing, Democratic state Rep. Michael Zalewski stated the signs would remind “pumping Illinoisans that . . . as a result of the work of the General Assembly the [cost of living] adjustment has not gone into effect” and that as drivers pump gas, “their gaze will fix upon the pump and maybe they’ll read about the good things we did.”

Last week gas-station owners sued the state for violating their speech rights under the Illinois and U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit says the law requires gas retailers “to choose between making a political statement they do not wish to make to their customers or the general public on behalf of the State of Illinois” or face criminal penalties.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that government can’t compel corporations to carry political messages with which they disagree. Courts have also ruled that governments can mandate that businesses disclose ostensibly factual information only for limited purposes, such as preventing fraud and protecting public safety. The Illinois law does neither and has no public-interest rationale.

I haven’t seen the details of the case but I would be protesting it on the basis of unjust takings, the 1st, and the 3rd Amendment. I have no idea whether their suit will prevail in an Illinois court.

But such authoritarian Stalinist tactics are just so Illinois. Incumbents will go to all lengths to ensure re-election. I doubt that anybody voted for them so they could force gas station owners to post campaign posters but I also presume that their voters won’t vote against them for it, either.