By State Rep. David McSweeney -
If I have heard it once, I have it heard dozens and dozens of times. The conversation or correspondence usually goes something like this. “David, Illinois is a lost cause. We are putting our house up for sale and moving. We can’t afford to live in Illinois any longer.”
Some might argue that this is just anecdotal and not scientific, but the truth is the exodus from Illinois has become an alarming problem that can no longer be ignored. Last year, Illinois lost 33,703 residents and moved from the 5th largest state in the nation to the 6th largest state, behind Pennsylvania. Illinois has lost population the last four years in a row and has lost 643,000 residents net to other states since 2010.
What is even more alarming is that our leaders do not seem to be too concerned about the continued loss of people. We can no longer ignore the mass exodus from Illinois. It is time for the Legislature to take this issue seriously.
To understand how to solve this problem, we need to understand the cause. People aren’t leaving Illinois because of the winter weather. They are leaving because their taxes are too high. The people I have talked to are tired of the high property taxes in Illinois and tired of the hostile business climate here. Many of the people leaving are business owners who are closing up shop and leaving Illinois.
A recent report from the American Economic Development Institute ranks Illinois the 49th worst state for doing business, ranking slightly above California.
300 Below, Inc., a Decatur-based cryogenic company that has developed a technology to freeze steel for strengthening is looking to leave Illinois. According to a recent media report, Prescott Paulin, owner of 300 Below, Inc, said, “The politics and the taxes make it nearly untenable for us to remain here."
To keep businesses and job opportunities in Illinois, we must listen to what business owners are telling us. We must roll back the recent personal and corporate income tax increase approved last summer. I have filed HB 4078 to repeal the 2017 tax increases.
We must lower property taxes. Illinois has the second highest property taxes in the nation. The high property taxes have an impact on both commercial and residential properties. One way to reduce property taxes is to find ways to reduce the nearly 7,000 units of local government in Illinois. The Land of Lincoln is the 6th largest state in the country, but the state is home to the highest number of local government bodies. This trend of losing population with no reduction in the number of local government bodies is not sustainable.
One thing I am doing locally is working to give voters greater ability to reduce the number of units of local government in McHenry County. House Bill 4244 applies to 17 townships in McHenry County and allows voters to vote to eliminate these government bodies and transfer their responsibilities and assets to McHenry County officials. This legislation is at a least a start in terms of reducing the number of units of local government in Illinois. We have to start somewhere and I will continue to fight for legislation that gives citizens the power to consolidate or eliminate excessive local governments.
Finally, we must adopt pro-growth economic policies to attract businesses to Illinois. Surrounding states such as Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin are aggressively trying to lure businesses out of Illinois. The pitch they make is a simple one; leave Illinois and come to a state that actually welcomes and appreciates businesses.
The numbers don’t lie. We are losing residents. The longer we ignore the trend of population loss, the worse the situation is going to become. What we need to do is to attract more jobs to the Land of Lincoln. The only way we can jumpstart our economy is to lower taxes and enact business-friendly policies to keep current employers and attract new ones to our state.
