* From former Rep. Peter Breen’s Facebook page…

Today, Peter Breen, two-term Illinois State Representative (R-Lombard) and former GOP Floor Leader, announced that he is going back to Springfield. Breen, a champion of taxpayer rights, is returning to the legislative arena to fight the 21 excessive tax and fee hikes that Chicago Democrats have heaped upon Illinois residents this year.

“The General Assembly demands more and more money from Illinois families, with no end in sight,” Breen pointed out. “There’s never any talk of restraining spending, truly balancing budgets, or dealing with our mounting debt. The only concern voiced by Springfield politicians is how much more of your hard earned money they can take from you.”

“I’m going back to Springfield to put a stop to this madness and end the exodus of people and businesses from our state. Illinois government is out of touch and costs its residents way too much,” he added. “I will fight the politicians who keep hiking your taxes while refusing to rein in spending.”

This election presents a clear choice. As a State Representative, Breen led the fight against Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and his spending and tax hikes, while Breen’s opponent, Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), has repeatedly backed them. Costa Howard’s first act as a state representative was to break her campaign promise to be independent of Mike Madigan: immediately after taking the oath of office, she gave the 48th District’s vote to Madigan, making him Speaker of the House. She then proceeded to do his bidding, voting for his graduated income tax hike, which she had previously promised to oppose, and his plan to spend tens of billions of dollars, over budget, on capital projects – spending paid for by over $250 in new gas and vehicle taxes on every Illinois household.

After thousands of District 48 residents reached out to Costa Howard asking her to oppose radical late-term abortion legislation, she ignored them. Instead, Costa Howard championed the most liberal abortion policies in the nation, including abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy and the removal of Illinois’ parental notice requirement prior to performing an abortion on a minor child.

Breen notes that Costa Howard’s record is “out of step with the families of the 48th District.” He continued, “My opponent has been dishonest with the people of our district. She promised to be ‘independent’ of Mike Madigan and a ‘moderate,’ but instead, she’s ramming through an aggressive liberal agenda, repeatedly hiking taxes and spending, while ignoring the sincere moral beliefs of our neighbors and friends. She can’t and won’t stand up to the corrupt Democrat machine that’s destroying Illinois.”

Breen and his wife, Margie, are the proud parents by adoption of Matthew, age 3, and James, age 1. Those young children are the primary reason for Breen’s recent founding of FairMapsIllinois.com, an effort to put a “Fair Maps” constitutional amendment on the 2020 Illinois ballot, and his own return to elected office.

“Our families, especially young families, deserve effective and efficient government – one that provides necessary services and respects their needs,” stated Breen. “But now, many of our children face a future where they will have to move to other states in order to find opportunities to hold decent jobs, own homes, and raise families. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can turn Illinois around by adopting Fair Maps, to put a stop to gerrymandering and break the hold of Madigan and his cronies on our state government,” he declared.

Breen served as an Illinois State Representative from 2015 to 2019, and as Floor Leader from 2017 to 2019. Recognized as a defender of families and community businesses, Breen passed 32 bills into law, more than any other two-term representative. His legislation saved millions of dollars for Illinois’ small businesses and non-profit organizations, protected seniors from estate-raiding scams, and halted pension spiking in local government.

From 2011 to 2014, Breen served on the Lombard Village Board, and he served as Acting President of Lombard after the untimely death of its long-time Village President, Bill Mueller. In those roles, he cut half a million dollars in excess spending, eliminated the village vehicle tax and sticker, froze property taxes for the first time in 20 years, and led efforts to revitalize downtown Lombard.

In 2018, during the national “blue wave,” Breen lost a tight reelection. In that contest, Costa Howard accepted over $2 million in campaign cash from Madigan, while misleadingly promising voters that she would be independent of him.

Breen is nationally known for his work as a constitutional attorney with the Thomas More Society, where he focuses on First Amendment issues. An Eagle Scout, he holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt and a law degree from Notre Dame.

Breen lost to Costa Howard last year by seven points, 53.5 to 46.5. Donald Trump lost that district in 2016 by 17 points. And he’ll likely be on the ballot again next year.