Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) thinks Illinois isn't doing enough to keep residents. | Photo Courtesy of Amy Grant
Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) thinks Illinois isn't doing enough to keep residents. | Photo Courtesy of Amy Grant
A veteran Republican lawmaker fears the worse may be yet to come when looking at the state’s steadily dwindling population.
“All of it starts with us constantly spending more money than we bring in, and now our tax receipts maybe even less with what’s going on with COVID,” state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) told the DuPage Policy Journal. “If the Legislature was doing what we’re supposed to be doing, we’d be back in Springfield by now talking about cutting spending and reforming our pensions.”
Grant lamented there’s a hefty cost to pay for the shortcomings, pointing to a new U.S. Census Bureau report that detailed how Illinois is one of four states to have lost population over the last decade. In all, nearly 170,000 people have fled the state, approximately 49,000 of them coming from the Cook County area.
Overall, 93 of the state’s 102 counties have lost population over that same time, including as many as 10 with losses of at least 5,000 individuals.
Grant fumed Democrats remain focused on the wrong things.
“Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker is blaming us for complaining about all the debt and spending because no one wants to deal with the hard issues,” she said. “We’re paying for the bad policy every day.”
More in-depth analysis showed that downstate counties have particularly been hard hit, with the region losing 144,000 residents or 3.2% of its 2010 population over the same period. In addition, data shows the losses in Cook County represented the second-worst decline of residents in any county across the country, with only Wayne County in Michigan losing more people.
“We need to cut spending, and the ridiculous budget passed earlier this year does nothing to help things,” Grant said. “It’s past time Springfield became more responsible.”
Alerts Sign-up