Kendall County Times

More than a decade after Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman warned Illinois lawmakers that the state would continue to lose business if it didn’t do something to change the anti-business climate the corporate losses continue to pile up.

In the past year, Boeing, Tyson Foods, Caterpillar and other companies have announced plans to leave Illinois, Advantage reported. 

State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) lays the blame at the feet of Democratic lawmakers who aren’t letting Republicans have much say in state politics. Of the 600 pieces of legislation that have advanced this session, only about 70 were put forth by Republicans.

“We’re not being allowed to fix the problems that are addressing this state,” Ugaste said in the Advantage report.

State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) said automaker Stellantis shuttered its plant in Belvidere only to follow that with an announcement for a $155 million dollar investment in Indiana. The move cost more than 1,300 workers their jobs. 

With the loss of business comes a related decline in population.

“If we grew at the same rate as some of our neighboring states, we would have over a million more people living in Illinois over the last 10 years,” he said. That would lead to increased revenue in several areas as there would be more taxpayers.

Instead, Illinois has been losing population. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that the state's population declined by a record 104,437 residents from July 2021 to July 2022.

Sosnowski, too, blamed Democratic policies for the outflow of jobs.

“These policies that this administration and the majority party in Illinois continue to push are hurting job creators and hurting families in Illinois.”   

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has not made much mention of the drain on the state’s economy. Rather, he has painted a glowing picture of the local economy, adding that the state is taking in more revenue than expected.