Residents are leaving Illinois at an alarming rate to accept jobs in other states, taking their talents, their contributions to their communities and their tax dollars with them.
This trend must stop if the state wants to remain strong, Heidi Holan of Glen Ellyn, the Republican candidate for state representative in District 46, said.
“This month alone I've had two dear friends leave and one who is preparing to leave because his employer is in the process of moving his business to Indiana,” Holan told the DuPage Policy Journal. “If I go back a few years, the count of friends or family leaving the state is well into the double digits.”
The fault isn't with those leaving to find a better opportunity. Residents need money to buy food, shelter and clothing. “To obtain cash, residents must start their own business or work for someone else who has done so," Holan said. "The bottom line is Illinois needs to be a business-friendly state or people will not live here."
People are leaving due to the high property taxes, fewer employment opportunities and the excessive debt Springfield is accumulating, Holan said. The legislature needs to address the reasons people are leaving if anything is going to change, she said.
“A 2 percent to 3 percent savings to a business, as a result of reduced insurance rates for workers' compensation, lower property taxes or the removal of an excessive regulation, can result in keeping that business in Illinois or allowing it to hire more employees,” Holan said.
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