Prairie State Wire

Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski wonders if Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s understands the depths of the damage he’s doing to Illinois with his COVID-19 edicts.

“Illinois was already an extremely tough place to business because of the high taxes, property taxes and anti-business environment,” Dabrowski told the Prairie State Wire. “So the closing of so many businesses and the continual strict policies of the governor is making things even worse for small businesses while also sending a bad signal to businesses that might want to operate here.”

Dabrowski argues the proof is in the numbers, pointing to a new TrackTheRecovery.org analysis that details how since the start of the year the state has lost more than a third of all 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.

“The randomness of all the governor’s shutdown policies just make it more difficult for small business owners,” Dabrowki added. “People want to know why some businesses can operate and others can’t when there is no data being presented that justifies it.”

National Federation of Independent Business Illinois State Director Mark Grant argues 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.

“Through the pandemic, I think it has been an even more destructive government,” Dabrowski added. “Illinois government has again shown itself not to be a good partner for small business.”

Dabrowski said he questions if the governor ever takes the time to think about how much his actions are negatively impacting small businesses and their workers.

“The governor talks about scientific data but doesn’t seem to follow any metrics when it comes to small businesses and what he’s doing to the industry from bankruptcy to mental health,” he said. “We’d love to see him have science and data from both sides he’s analyzing.”