South Central Reporter

Former Madison County Board Member Don Moore rages Springfield has no one to blame but itself for the state’s dubious distinction.

“It’s a travesty the governor is imposing these kinds of restrictions and not allowing small businesses to make decisions for themselves about how best to save their enterprises,” Moore told the South Central Reporter. “People are losing their livelihoods based on the governor’s unilateral decisions.”

With Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) data showing the state having lost jobs for two of the last three months while the rest of the country show signs of stabilizing to the tune of seven straight months of job growth, Moore worries Illinois’ drought may just be kicking into high gear.

“Many of Gov. Pritzker’s restrictions are still in place and some people will have to go out of state to recover,” he told the South Central Reporter. “There’s a direct correlation between the loss of jobs here and the population growth in other nearby states. The governor is shooting himself in the foot with all this, but he doesn’t care because he’s not the one feeling the pain.”

Not surprisingly the bulk of the losses here in Illinois have come in the leisure and hospitality industry, which lost some 27,400 during the month of November alone.  With the governor’s ban on indoor dining still in effect, Moore worries things may get worse before they get better.

“I think that people are going to have to stand up to the governor and say we’ve had enough,” Moore told the South Central Reporter. “Maybe you do that with a Class A lawsuit against the governor that points out the way he is destroying this state. Right now, everything he’s doing is only making matter worse.”

All of this is coming at a time when the governor continues to entertain the thought of increased taxes, which many argue could serve as a final death knell for many of the businesses that have somehow managed to survive up to this point.  

“It’s just more of the governor saying to everyone else ‘I know what to do to take care of you then you do because I know better than you,’” Moore told the South Central Reporter. “In reality, he’s just pushing more people away.”