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 The Toyota-Mazda plant Illinois missed out on is going to
Alabama, according to Alabama news website AL.com.
The $1.6 billion assembly plant will create an estimated 4,000 jobs in the
Huntsville, Alabama, area. It is estimated the plant will be up and running by
2021, and workers there will produce more than 300,000 vehicles annually,
according to AL.com.
Illinoisans found out about the lost opportunity in October, when it was
announced that the Land of Lincoln was officially out of the running for the
plant, despite efforts by state leaders and from communities within Illinois
such as DeKalb and Rochelle. Following the news, an Illinois economic
development official indicated that Illinois had lost out on the Toyota-Mazda
plant due to Illinois’ lack of a right-to-work law and “shovel-ready sites.” Sources told AL.com the deal was already finalized but hadn’t been officially
announced, and that the choice about where to build the plant had been whittled
down to North Carolina and Alabama. Both North Carolina and Alabama are
right-to-work states.
 Though Illinois did make Toyota and Mazda’s list of top 11 candidates, industry
observers speculated that the site would likely go to a Southeastern,
right-to-work state.
That Illinois made it on the short list was no small feat, as every other state
on the list was right-to-work.
This is not the first time the Prairie State has been passed over for investment
because of its lack of a right-to-work law. Jim Schultz, the former director of
the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, told Crain’s
Chicago Business in 2015 that more than 1,100 companies blacklist Illinois
because it doesn’t have such a law.
Two-thirds of global chief financial officers surveyed by CNBC in 2015 said a
right-to-work law is either “important” or “very important” when deciding where
to grow their businesses.
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Over half of all states
have adopted right to work, including all of Illinois’ neighbors.
(Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed a statewide right-to-work law in
2017, but the Show Me State’s right-to-work statute is currently on
hold for private sector workers pending a voter referendum.)
The lack of right to
work, combined with Illinois’ high workers’ compensation costs and
hefty tax burden, makes the state uncompetitive in attracting
manufacturing jobs.
But rather than addressing these issues, Illinois lawmakers have
actively tried to make a bad situation even worse, including an
attempt in 2017 to pass Senate Bill 1905, which would have cracked
down on local governments and local officials considering right to
work.
Right-to-work zones could help attract companies to communities that
would otherwise be overlooked along with the rest of Illinois due to
the lack of a statewide right-to-work law. These zones would allow
local governments the chance to make their communities more
competitive with towns in Illinois’ neighboring states and other
right-to-work states.
But SB 1905 would’ve prohibited local governments from passing
right-to-work ordinances and would’ve even held local leaders
criminally liable for trying to enact them.
The bill took aim at communities such as the village of
Lincolnshire, which enacted a right-to-work ordinance in 2015.
SB 1905 passed both the Illinois Senate and House of
Representatives, but was vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in September
2017. Lawmakers later attempted to override the governor’s veto
twice, but each time came up one vote shy of the 71 needed.
Without changes in state policy, Illinois will continue to be at a
disadvantage when it comes to attracting manufacturing jobs.
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