“The governor has been in a stalemate with legislative leaders for almost a year, and I think it’s obvious to everyone by now that some are trying to wear him down and turn voters against him. But, at least as far as small business is concerned, it’s not working,” Maisch said.
The poll, conducted earlier this month, shows that an overwhelming 88 percent of respondents believe the governor should continue fighting to pass his Turnaround Agenda, while 74 percent believe the Illinois economy is on the wrong track.
“Illinois is broke, and legislative leaders would rather play politics than work with the administration to fix things,” Maisch said. “Our members believe the governor is trying to solve the problem.”
Those problems include a declining workforce and state population. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois ended the year with fewer jobs than when we started for the first time since 2009, and the state’s population fell by almost 650,000 people between 2004 and 2013 as many families left the state to find opportunities elsewhere.
Illinois is dead last in overall fiscal solvency, and the state pension liabilities cost every citizen $25,740 a year, according to the latest American Legislative Exchange Council “Rich States, Poor States” report. “We have the seventh-highest workers’ compensation costs in the country,” Maisch said. “Last year, a survey of Illinois small-business ownes by the consumer service website Thumbtack.com gave Illinois an ‘F on its friendliness to entrepreneurs and job creators, and CEO magazine once again cited Illinois as one of the worst places in the country to do business, putting us at 48th.
“President Obama was right when he told the Illinois Legislature the other day that we need a ‘better politics’ based on civility and compromise to cure a ‘poisonous political climate,’” Maisch said. “We need legislative leaders to stop playing games and start working with Governor Rauner, not against him.”
NFIB/Illinois is the state’s leading small-business association with 11,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of the state’s economy. Learn more at www.NFIB.com/IL or follow @NFIB_IL on Twitter.
