Lawmakers: Illinois should focus on business, education reforms to
reverse population drops
Send a link to a friend
[March 31, 2023]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers on both sides of the aisle
recognize the state’s population is in decline and say something needs
to be done to reverse the trend.
The latest U.S. Census data released Thursday shows population trends
for counties across the United States. Of 102 Illinois counties, 92 lost
population over the year ending June 2022. Cook County was the second
largest loser of people in the U.S. behind Los Angeles County in
California.
Census data also shows Illinois has lost significant population to
outmigration nine years in a row.
State Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, said he sees the decline in his
Chicago community.
“I think that if you look at the numbers, it’s clear that we have a loss
of people in the state of Illinois,” Ford told The Center Square. “Even
in the community that I live in, Austin, we’ve lost population.”
State Sen. Win Stoller, R-Germantown Hills, said his community and
family are seeing the exodus from Illinois for better opportunities
elsewhere.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Mar/31/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
“My own son has moved to Chattanooga,” Stoller told The Center Square.
“Chattanooga was the same size as my home town of Peoria just 10 years
ago and now it’s double the size because they have attracted a new
Volkswagen electric car plant and that’s where my son works, in
Chattanooga.”
Stoller said Tennessee has more job opportunities and notes it also has
no income tax.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Mar/31/images/ads/current/charrons_bch_2022.png)
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/033123PIX/news_c55.jpg)
Construction continues on the North
entrance of the Illinois State Capitol - Greg Bishop / The Center
Square
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Mar/31/images/ads/current/beescub_lda_SFARM_2023.png)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker denied the state is losing population, saying
Illinois has increased in size.
“We did not lose population as you saw when the Census Bureau data came
through for the 2020 census,” Pritzker said. “We actually gained
population especially as they looked more closely after the initial
announcements at what happened state to state.”
That doesn’t comport with public Census data, including reapportionment
where Illinois lost a seat in the U.S. Congress, or IRS data showing
Illinois tax filers moving to other states. Pritzker’s comments also
don’t comport with private data from moving companies showing Illinois
leading the nation in outbound migration.
Stoller said the first step to addressing the issues is to admit there’s
a problem and to “not put our heads in the sand.”
“If we want to be attracting people to Illinois, we need to start with
our tax environment, our business regulations, to promote jobs, to
promote economic opportunity,” Stoller said.
Ford suggested that things the state is already doing will reverse
population decline.
“We’re investing more money in higher ed, we’re investing more money in
growing childhood education and we’re investing more money in
businesses,” Ford said. “I hope this will help drive people back to
Illinois and sort of stop people from leaving the state.”
The U.S. Census shows Illinois at 12.6 million, down from 12.7 million
the year before.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other
issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning
broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of
Springfield. |