Mark Curran | File photo
Mark Curran | File photo
Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Curran is convinced Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has come to be a central part of the problem.
“I think we need to be letting every person decide on their own how they can best keep themselves and their families safe through this,” Curran told the Prairie State Wire. “I think the way we’ve closed the state is really a tragedy, especially when it comes to our small business owners. Things didn’t have to be this bad and a lot of that has to do with the governor’s actions.”
A new TrackTheRecovery.org analysis finds since the start of the new year, the state has lost more than one-third of its small businesses. Overall, data compiled by Harvard and Brown universities and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation shows as of Nov. 16, 2020, the number of small businesses open dipped by some 35.4 percent compared to January of this year, with the industry also experiencing a revenue decline topping 39% since January.
In some ways, Curran said the governor is as much to blame as the virus itself.
“He’s stuck with the job of trying to carry out the will of his people,” Curran said. “It’s a big part of the reason why I say we need to see all the people in Springfield in power sweep put. We’ve got to start electing honest people that hold the best interest of the public above everything.”
National Federation of Independent Business Illinois State Director Mark Grant points out that running a small business in Illinois was already quite the challenge even before the pandemic hit, given such factors as higher property taxes and workers’ compensation dues.
Curran sighs all of it has taken a heavy toll.
“More people have left Illinois over the last six years than any other state and none of them are looking back,” he said. “But I think those numbers will look like nothing compared to what we’ll see over the next few years if we don’t change course soon. Our pension costs are on the verge of consuming everything if we don’t do something different.”
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