“Chicago has a curse on it. “I’ve been praying to God: Please get me and my children out of this city. And you know what? A lot of folks at our church have moved to Indiana. A lot of them have moved to Texas, too … “It’s just a vicious cycle here. “You hear so...
By reducing the licensing requirements that make it harder for people to enter many professions, Illinois could give more people access to jobs, bring down the cost of goods and services through increased competition, and attract more workers to the state.
While new state numbers painted a rosier picture of 2015, Illinoisans are still struggling in a poor economic climate.
Illinois’ manufacturing meltdown and weak jobs growth are pummeling workers.
“Indiana’s just a great place to be for manufacturing. You don’t see a lot of [manufacturers] going in the other direction. You don’t see a lot of manufacturing companies leaving Indiana to go to Illinois or any other state … “[Illinois has] done so much to discourage manufacturing. You have a business climate that’s poisonous...
City zoning policies serve to keep many neighborhoods segregated. These rules also keep lower-income residents of all races out of popular areas, allowing city officials to shape who can live where and making housing more expensive.
Illinois remains home to the nation’s worst employment recovery.
Though neighboring and Great Lakes states added a combined 200 factory jobs per workday on net in 2015, an average of 56 Illinois manufacturing workers, on net, received pink slips each workday during the same time.
The need for foundational change couldn’t be more evident in the Land of Lincoln.
A recent Gallup poll found residents in states with higher tax burdens are more likely to want to move. Illinoisans are the third-most-likely to say they would prefer to move permanently to another state.
While Illinoisans’ incomes have flatlined since the recession, state tax revenue has grown by more than that in almost every state in the nation.
Illinois politicians ignored Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman’s 2012 plea for pro-growth reforms, and Illinois is the only state in the region to have lost manufacturing jobs on net over the last four years.
“I’m really proud of this business, but everyone [in Chicago] is looking for a way out. Most startups can do their work effectively almost anywhere. “We’re not rich by any stretch of the imagination. And Chicago just makes it hard for us to grow because we’re spending [money] on stupid stuff. All it means to...
Employers in Illinois filed notice with the state in January of hundreds of layoffs.