(The Center Square) Gov. JB Pritzker used the attention of the Democratic National Convention to highlight the success of Illinois and the Democratic Party, but the head of a nonprofit think tank says the numbers don’t add up.
Pritzker said there’s no better place to see that change is possible under Democratic leadership than Illinois, where Democrats currently hold a majority in the Illinois General Assembly.
” statistics“We’re at the bottom of the heap when it comes to most things that matter to most people,” said Wirepoint president Ted Dabrowski, “jobs, income, economic growth, safety, everything.”
Pritzker has billed the Democrat as a champion of jobs, but as Dombrowskis points out, Illinois has 85,000 fewer jobs than it did five years ago when Pritzker took office, and the state has the second-worst unemployment rate in the country.
“We don’t have business-friendly laws, we have the largest pension liability in the country, it sucks up too much money and it hurts our economy,” Dombrowski said. “Not to mention corruption and too many government agencies. All of this gets in the way of what businesses do best: create jobs and grow.”
According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, Illinois’ black unemployment rate is a staggering 8.8 percent, third-worst in the state behind Kentucky and Ohio.
“Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, they’re all so obsessed with equity, they keep using the language of equity and progressive values, but when you look at the impact their policies have on minorities, it’s really sad,” Dombrowski said.
Dombrowski noted that Illinois had the third-largest population loss, losing more than 240,000 people since the last decennial count was completed in 2020. Meanwhile, Texas and Florida both gained populations by more than 1 million people over the three-year period.
