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 During the past 14 years, Zach and Tara Meiborg
have grown Meiborg Trucking in Rockford, Illinois, to nearly 25 times its
original size. But when your business is to move things, you also know how to
move yourself.
That’s what the Meiborgs have decided to do, thanks to Illinois’ dysfunctional
government and policies. The are deciding whether to move their business out of
Illinois, but that decision might get easier if voters Nov. 8 approve Amendment
1 and the firm’s tax burden grows.
“In a little over a decade, we’ve grown our business from 15 employees to 350,
but Illinois is becoming an increasingly hostile state to raise a family and do
business in,” Zach Meiborg said. “In the next few weeks, we’re relocating to
Houston and considering eventually moving our headquarters out of Illinois as
well.”
Illinois faces staggering population loss: 81 out of 102 Illinois counties lost
population in 2021. Winnebago County, where Rockford is located, lost 1,739
people, the sixth-largest loss in the state.
Amendment 1 would solidify Illinois’ reputation as one of the worst places to do
business in the country. Illinois would become the only state to decree union
powers as untouchable, putting the weight of the Illinois Constitution behind
union bosses’ abilities to strike over a virtually limitless list of demands,
the ability to override state law through their contracts, and a guarantee that
taxpayers and lawmakers would have an extremely difficult time reversing course.
The cost of filling those demands would fall on the businesses and families
paying taxes.
Illinois’ business climate already ranks 36th in the U.S., but that is 10 spots
lower than it was a decade ago while neighboring states are all on the upswing
of the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. On the heels of state
lawmakers failing to stop automatic employer tax hikes because they didn’t repay
a federal loan and adequately refill the state’s unemployment trust fund,
employers are getting the message they are unwelcome in Illinois.
“Gov. Pritzker’s complete administrative mismanagement of unemployment and
reckless workers’ comp laws, and an absurdly unbalanced budget are putting
Illinois in our rearview mirror,” Zach Meiborg said.
"As business owners, we’re constantly up against headwinds at every level of
bureaucracy and we’re exhausted from the fight to keep and extend more job
opportunities here.”
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When employers leave, so do prime working-age families like the Meiborgs whose
taxes prop up state finances. Amendment 1 would be a hit to businesses as well
as families, as government union demands and compliant politicians drive up
property taxes.
“During the pandemic, we were all in. Our industry being the keystone of the
supply chain, we didn’t lay anybody off and kept on trucking,” Zach Meiborg
said. “But we’re still going to have to pay because the entire state is going to
get dinged in increased taxes to make up what was taken out of the unemployment
trust fund, every single business. So, we get punished for keeping people
employed, which is the backwards way of what it should be.”
Illinois lawmakers borrowed $4.2 billion from the federal government at the
height of the pandemic to fill the unemployment trust fund, then missed the
deadline to repay last September. That left taxpayers owing at least $100
million in interest.
State lawmakers put $2.7 billion in federal pandemic relief towards the
unemployment debt. Unless they take further action, businesses like the Meiborgs’
can expect federally mandated, automatic payroll tax increases just after the
election to make up the difference.
Indicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is gone, but his system of
rewarding government union bosses with generous contracts in exchange for their
campaign donations would be enshrined in the Illinois Constitution were
Amendment 1 to pass. That would mean Illinois’ $313 billion pension debt would
continue to balloon, further increasing state and local taxes while spending on
vital programs would continue to fall.
“The property taxes are massive. Every little taxing body takes their dime out
of your taxes and we get increasingly less service for that investment,” Zach
Meiborg said. “When you start adding up all those taxes, that’s a large reason
why we’re considering shifting some of our business to another state.”
Voters on Nov. 8 will need to decide whether government unions really need more
power in Illinois, or whether taxpayers should declare they are not bottomless
piggy banks for politicians wooing union bosses. |
