East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) reasons tough times call for even tougher decisions.

“We have to be concerned with keeping people safe but at the same time we have to balance the fragileness of the economy because that too is causing people a lot of heartache,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “Here in Illinois, there’s no more kicking the can down the road and pretending our situation doesn’t exist. This coronavirus pandemic has exposed problems of waste, fraud and corruption that have long been crippling Illinois, explaining why we have nothing in reserve to help us over a crisis like this.”

Indeed, a new WalletHub.com survey finds Illinois ranks near the top of state economies most vulnerable to the deadly virus. Researchers based the rankings on such variables “high impact for industries and workforce” and “resources for businesses” that might help in coping with the crisis.

Miller said nothing about the poor assessment comes as a surprise.

“Illinois has been in trouble for a long time based on the way Springfield does business and the longer this goes on, the more it smells ” he said.

Miller said one of things that bothers him is the way different rules seem to apply for different people.

“That’s part of why the big-box businesses are still open and most of the smaller ones are all closed,” he said. “It’s because the big-box operations have lobbyists. Then you look at something like the way Amtrak is still running trips from Illinois directly to, say, New Orleans, two places that we’re told are now hot spots but we still doing direct transports to and from. I just think there are so many mixed messages.”