Veteran Illinois State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) | File photo
Veteran Illinois State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) | File photo
Veteran Illinois State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) said he could see the avalanche coming in regards of small business survival as a new state analysis finds a third of small businesses having closed operations since January until now.
“This is what happens when you create a hostile business environment, make it impossible for small businesses to stay afloat, then follow it up with the coup de grace of all the governor’s restrictions,” Miller told the East Central Reporter.
Miller's response to a new TrackTheRecovery.org analysis, which has found that the state lost more than a third of all small businesses since the beginning of the year, The Center Square reported.
“The public policy being instituted by the governor is crippling small businesses everywhere. Sooner or later, so many owners feel like they have no option but to pull the plug," Miller said.
Overall, data compiled by Harvard and Brown universities and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation shows that as of Nov. 16, the number of small businesses open dipped by some 35.4% compared to January of this year. The industry also is experiencing a revenue decline topping 39% since January.
“It’s another testament to how out of touch the billionaire politicians making all these critical decisions are with the people they’re supposed to represent,” Miller said.
“These people have never missed a paycheck or had to do without anything. They can’t relate to the pain people are feeling right now from all these restrictions," Miller said.
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Illinois State Director, Mark Grant, points out that running a small business in Illinois was already quite challenging even before the pandemic hit, given such factors as higher property taxes and workers’ compensation.
“To see Pritzker putting all these restrictions in place while all the CDC stats show most people recover from this virus just makes taking all this harder,” Miller said. “He’s literally destroying our small business industry for no good reason.”
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