By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
It’s crazy, considering the facts, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot still thinks she can battle states like Texas for people and companies using her “equity” agenda as a lure. Chicago city officials recently ran newspaper ads in Dallas, Orlando and Phoenix selling Chicago’s devotion to progressive causes to businesses.
Somebody ought to tell the mayor that “equity” doesn’t sell in a business environment as bad as Illinois’.
Chief Executive Magazine just released its “Best & Worst States For Business Survey” for 2022. Illinois ranked third-worst in the nation, behind only California and New York.
The very best places to do business? Texas, Florida, and Arizona…the very states Lightfoot is trying to steal companies from.
Texas remains the big winner, both in people and companies. “The Lone Star State placed No. 1 again, as it has every year since Chief Executive began compiling the list in 2001. Their combination of a fast-growth population and a low-tax, low-regulation business climate is proven catnip for companies.”
Texas’ population gained nearly 4 million people over the last decade, while Florida grew by nearly 2.7 million. Arizona was up by three-quarters of a million. Illinois, meanwhile, was one of just three states in the country to shrink in population.
Last time Lightfoot tried this advertising stunt, Wirepoints put together an infographic detailing the vast competitive difference between Illinois and Texas. Here it is:
Chief Executive magazine also explained why states like Illinois ranked so low on the list: “States at the bottom of the list continued to suffer from reputations for high taxes, regulation and costs of living…Despite some of the nation’s top talent pools and education systems, it will take a true revolution in their tax and regulatory structures to gain ground with CEOs—and move up from the basement.”
What would that revolution look like? Tax cuts, pension reform, less red tape and a roll back in the power of Illinois’ public sector unions. Not to mention a serious reduction in crime. That’s far different from the “equity” revolution Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker continue to push.
For more details on the Chief Executive survey, check out this article from the Center Square.
Audio and summary 
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
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When it came time to buy a house, I went across the river to Iowa, because the cost of living is so much lower. Now, I’m also enjoying freedoms that I didn’t have in IL. I happened to drive through Chicago at the beginning of the China virus, and there were at least 10 construction cranes. I went through again about a month ago, I only saw 2.
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In North Texas as I write this. This is the real problem because the businesses they are chasing out pay so much in taxes. Loosing residential property owners is a slow bleed. Commercial property owners, businesses, that’s a real problem. Jelly Belly on down could care less about it. The state is effectively run by so many Socialists and they love to redistribute wealth but usually don’t know the first thing about creating wealth or entrepreneurship. All the wrong priorities with a complete abdication of their responsibilities of protecting the citizens. They should all be _______(fill in the blank). Unbelievable… Read more »
High taxes chase out residents too, especially poorer ones. Rents are expensive for low to middle income people in part because the taxes on real estate are so high. Middle income people move to save a few thousand dollars a year because in this economy every penny matters.
Low income types get Section 8 and liheap for their utility bills.
The Section 8 waiting list is miles long. The real problem lies in the absence of affordable and clean housing stock. I can’t think of policies more likely to reduce housing stock than those Illinois follows.
Yeah Equity will make them come here. Carjacking, senseless killing of lots of people, stealing from businesses with no consequences or restitution, Critical Race Theory, woke teacher’s unions, pensions and real estate taxes that never stop growing, among the highest gas tax in the country, more potholes than you can count, a DCFS not protecting our children, relying on sales of marijuana to pay state taxes, attempting to put in the Constitution the end of a right-to-work state which will raise all prices across the board, and out migration off the charts will keep them from coming here. So how’s… Read more »
A company would have to completely ignore or forgo its due diligence to move to IL. All the factors cited above are real limiting factors while “equity” is just an ideal with no concrete meaning except for what the bureaucrats like Lightfoot say it is.
Our next door neighbor, Indiana, is #6 on the list. That’s where we’re headed before summer is over. So looking forward to lower taxes, a freer economy, business friendly policies, less corruption, less regulation, better schools. Nirvana . . .
Except you’re in Indiana!
I used to live in one of the nicer southern suburbs back in the 70s and ‘80s. They were quite bustling and successful at that time, with a good outlook and investment by the residents in their neighborhoods. Going into the parts of Indiana just east was like going back in time a few decades. It was really a depressing backwater. However, the last time I drove through I was stunned at the amount of development because of all the migration from Illinois. The tables have been turned, and the southern suburbs are now on the way down with no… Read more »
I’ll admit I haven’t been through NW Indiana much (other than the interstate which is not representative) but there are a lot of people moving there. One of my neighbors upped and moved there out of the blue. Big migration of IL residents.
How long, I wonder, can a state as corrupt as Illinois and a country as corrupt as the U.S. continue to do business as usual?
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New Flash: The whole disgusting race hustle fraud of Diversity Equity Inclusion is starting to crumble. Companies are now realizing that they are wasting millions on worthless struggle sessions, instead of doing their actual jobs.
Contrast that with North Carolina, which was formerly ranked #44. Since 2010 the NC legislature has worked to improve the business climate and they are now #5. Their stated goal is to be the #1 state for business. The current corporate income tax is a low 2.5% and will drop to zero in 2030.
I have a daughter in North Carolina she loves it for a lot of good reasons, she also stated she will never come back to Illinois
god bless her,someone with a brain
There’s many Northern transplants where I live, and one major theme I’ve seen is that the transplants do not want NC to turn into the state they had to leave. There are a few examples where the transplants worked with the long time locals to stop some bad developments from happening. People realize that if you don’t organize and fight, the good things NC offers could slip away like they did in the Northern states. I, too, will never move back to Illinois. To be honest, I do not even want to visit Illinois again. There are too many great… Read more »
yea,great leadership from lightfoot,putzker and the dems,theyre all either completely delusional,lie a lot,or just plain stupid,or a combination of all three