SE Illinois News

Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) wants to see Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democrats in Springfield get serious about addressing the state’s rising outmigration problem.

“Pritzker and company continue to ignore or not acknowledge the problems we have while we see other states around us having dealt with their biggest issues long ago and now flourishing and reaping the benefits of our repeated failures,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News. “It tells you how badly we need a change of power and a return to common-sense government.”

Given Illinois’ long history of taxes and spending, Bailey believed no one should be surprised that it rates as one of the states where residents are heading for the exits as quickly as they can. 

According to the annual studies from two of the largest moving companies, in 2020, upward of 60% of interstate moves serviced by their workers in Illinois were of the outbound variety.

With high taxes and “job-related reasons” ranking among the biggest causes why many are deciding to walk away, researchers also found outmigration in 2020 hit its highest levels in Illinois since World War II.

All the madness has Bailey wondering how long the state can continue to survive.

“During the recent lame-duck session, everything that can be done to make matters worse was done or attempted,” he said. “The police reform bill we passed will only send more people fleeing because it makes it harder for officers to do their jobs and sends the message that we’re not going to protect our people. Who wants to be around for that?”

In the end, Bailey said it’s going to take more GOP leadership to bring about the kinds of structural changes that are needed in Springfield.

“In order to generate money, we have to have people working and paying taxes,” he said.