Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) isn't a fan of Illinois' recently passed Amendment 1, the Right to Collective Bargaining measure.

“I'm opposed. It will give too much power to unions and make the government public sector," Grant said before the measure was passed. "I think if this state ever wants to become a right-to-work state in the future (it) won’t be able to if we pass this bill.”

According to Ballotpedia, the measure insures employees have a "fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work" and prohibit any law that "interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively."

The ballot measure passed with 58.36% of the vote.

Grant agrees with the argument that Amendment 1 will make union bosses too powerful. "I think that’s true, and public sector unions also bankroll candidates and that’s not fair or in the best interest of voters," she said.

When discussing the measure's effects on public schools, she feels teacher strikes are "unethical." 

"I don’t think teachers should have the ability to strike at all because of who it hurts, which are the children," Grant said. "I think we need to begin to look at the students and work with their priorities in mind. I think it’s unethical what these unions do in leaving children locked out of school during their disputes."

"We don’t know what these unions will do," Grant said. "So much of it is just so unfair to taxpayers and it’s dangerous to put something like this in the constitution."

The Tax Foundation’s 2023 State Business Tax Climate rankings show that Illinois has become less friendly to businesses over the last 5 years, dropping from 29th in 2018 to 36th in this year's ranking, Illinois Policy reported. The rankings are calculated based on corporate, income, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes. Illinois' neighboring states all stayed the same or improved their rankings between 2018 and this year. Indiana held steady at 9th on the list, while Michigan moved up one spot from 13th to 12th. Missouri and Wisconsin both improved their rankings by 4 spots, moving up from 15th to 11th and 31st to 27th respectively. Iowa moved up 8 spots from 46th to 38th, while Kentucky saw the largest improvement, jumping 19 spots from 37th to 18th. Illinois' unemployment rate was the highest in the nation as of September. The Illinois Policy report suggested that the state's business climate contributed to major companies moving their headquarters elsewhere. This year, companies including Caterpillar, Boeing, Tyson, and Citadel announced they were moving their businesses to other states.

Caterpillar announced on June 14 that it is relocating its headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois, to Irving, Texas, according to a press release. “We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.

Boeing announced in May that it is relocating its headquarters from Chicago to a suburb of Washington, DC, NBC reported. “We are excited to build on our foundation here in Northern Virginia," Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun said in a statement. "The region makes strategic sense for our global headquarters given its proximity to our customers and stakeholders, and its access to world-class engineering and technical talent."

Billionaire Ken Griffin announced this year that he's moving hedge fund Citadel and market-maker Citadel Securities to Florida, Market Watch reported. “Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” Griffin wrote in a letter to employees. “Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world.”

The Illinois Policy report said that Illinois' property tax is the main driver of its tax burden.

Illinois' property tax rate is the second highest in the nation at 2.27%, behind only New Jersey, according to a June report by Rocket Mortgage. The owner of a $194,500 home in Illinois pays $4,942 annually in property taxes. 30 states have property tax rates lower than 1%.