By Illinois Review
A Florida business group recently brought its economic recruitment campaign directly to Gov. JB Pritzker’s backyard, using billboards along Interstate 55 to highlight the movement of residents, businesses and taxable income from Illinois to Florida.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce launched the Chicago-area campaign on Sept. 22, placing billboards along the Stevenson Expressway that named Pritzker the “runner-up” for Florida’s “Economic Developer of the Year.”
The designation was tongue-in-cheek. The Chamber used Pritzker’s image – shown shrugging – while thanking him for jobs moving to Florida and directing motorists to its Free Enterprise Florida campaign comparing the economic performance of the two states.
Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson said the campaign was aimed at contrasting state policies and economic outcomes.
“This isn’t personal. This is about policy,” Wilson told Fox Business. “The person responsible for all of Illinois’s policies is the governor.”
The Illinois campaign followed the Chamber’s August rollout in Times Square, where it targeted New York as part of the same effort to promote Florida to residents and businesses in other states.
“Everything we do is scorecard driven, and we follow the data,” Wilson said. “New York earned the number one spot, and if you look at the data, Illinois earns the number two spot.”
According to figures highlighted by the Florida Chamber, Florida ranks first nationally for business relocations, while Illinois ranks 48th and loses more businesses than it gains.
The Chamber also says Florida’s population increased by roughly 1.87 million people, or 7 percent, over the five-year period used in its comparison, while Illinois declined by more than 76,000 residents, or 0.6 percent.
The comparison is even more pronounced when looking at taxable-income migration.
Florida recorded a net gain of $20.6 billion in taxable income, according to the Chamber, while Illinois posted a net loss of $5.9 billion. Illinois was also the second-largest source of taxable income moving into Florida, with approximately $2.4 billion shifting between the two states.
Wilson, a Chicago-area native, has argued that high taxes, crime, government policy and other economic conditions are pushing residents and businesses away from Illinois while helping Florida attract investment. He added that under Pritzker’s leadership, “all of Illinois is in a death spiral.”
The Chamber describes the campaign as part of a broader effort to promote Florida’s tax and business climate and encourage other states to adopt policies it considers more competitive. Its Illinois comparison also highlights differences in business startups, debt per capita and personal income taxes.
While the I-55 billboards were scheduled as a limited campaign, the Chamber’s broader effort remains active.
Since Pritzker took office, Illinois has continued to experience a mass exodus of people and businesses – including more than 500,000 residents and over 1,200 businesses.
And Illinois could soon face one of its most high-profile departures yet: the Chicago Bears are actively pursuing a new stadium development in Hammond, Indiana, with team President and CEO Kevin Warren saying in August that the organization’s “sole focus” is now across the state line.
