East Central Reporter

State House Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) feels empathy and even some sadness for Illinoisans after Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s State of the State address Wednesday in Springfield.

“The people of this state feel tyrannized by their government,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “The elephant in the room is our pension crisis, which is driving all the economic woes. But that was never talked about it. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. I tell people the handle's already been pulled on the toilet and not dealing with it just means we’re going down the drain even faster.”

Evidence of that can be seen in the latest Illinois Department of Employment of Labor Statistics that show that the state job market dragged far behind the rest of the U.S. in 2019. The state produced around 45,000 non-farm payroll jobs last year, the slowest growth Illinois has seen during the first year of any governor's elected term since Rod Blagojevich in 2007, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

 “The longer we put off dealing with all these problems, the bigger the issues are going to become,” Miller added. “It’s like an infection and if you don’t take your medicine, the illness just spreads and spreads.”

While Miller was encouraged that Pritzker dedicated some of his speech to the issue of fair maps, it was the things that were not addressed that most concern the lawmaker.

“He failed to address our outmigration problem and how some businesses are shutting their doors because of our bad environment for them and families in general,” Miller said. “He didn’t address our out-of-control workman’s compensation, property taxes or spending, all of which have become like gangrene in the way they spread to everything. Illinois can’t move forward without dealing with those issues.”