State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) always feared that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID actions would come to this.
“The governor’s policies and actions have always been heavily slanted against small businesses, especially places like restaurants,” Mazzochi told the DuPage Policy Journal. “So many restaurant owners I’ve talked to have completely exhausted their savings. They’ve been feeling the pain, and now it’s hitting the landlords and others that they’re in partnership with.”
A new survey by small business referral network Alignable finds that 56% of all the state’s bar and restaurant owners were unable to make full rent last month as the effects of the governor's ban on indoor dining took greater hold.
Nationally, that figure stands at 61%, up 19% from just a month earlier with the harshest part of the winter season still yet to come. In Illinois, the number of restaurants now unable to make full rent payments has already more than doubled since September.
“All of this absolutely a consequence of Gov. Pritzker’s actions,” Mazzochi added. “We know that there have been restaurants owners that have gone above and beyond to make sure they were providing a safe environment for their customers, but still they’re the ones being targeted. The fact that the governor is just focused on capacity instead of cleaning and safety measures reiterates how he doesn’t understand the industry at all. For most of these restaurants, capacity restrictions mean they won’t be able to function and survive.”
Mazzochi said she finds it totally disheartening to see some of the state’s longest running small business establishments now falling by the wayside under the weight of the governor’s restrictions.
“They’ve been able to survive depressions and all other kinds of pandemic but they can’t survive Pritzker,” she said. “The governor keeps destroying small businesses without offering any compensation for all the value he’s destroyed.”
Alerts Sign-up