VIDEO: Pritzker says steering Illinois’ economy like ‘moving an aircraft carrier’

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has some more announcements on the economic front soon as the state continues to have a more sluggish economy than the rest of the nation.

At 5.3%, Illinois’ unemployment rate is the third worst in the U.S. and more than a full percentage point higher than the national average of 4.2%. Recent jobs data shows Illinois having only grown 0.7% since last year and 0.02% since 2019.

At an unrelated news conference last week, Pritzker said the state is recovering from several crises, the COVID pandemic being the most recent.

“But, again, it takes a long time to change the trajectory. You’re moving an aircraft carrier when you’re changing the trajectory of a state’s growth rate,” he said.

The governor said he’s focused on bringing businesses to Illinois.

“I don’t make these things up. People often have asked me, ‘well, when are we going to hear the …’ and then you hear them but nobody takes into account that I promised them and then I delivered them,” Pritzker said.

Recently, Pritzker announced taxpayer-funded grants for a quantum computer development in Chicago. He has also offered tax credits to a slew of other companies.

State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said the economy would benefit from lower taxes for everyone.

“So Governor Pritzker loves to pick his winners and losers so he can do his ribbon cuttings, but that’s only for the politically connected that get those tax credits,” Chesney told The Center Square.

State spending also needs to be cut, Chesney said. And for business certainty, taxes need to be slashed.

“We need to make it unequivocally clear we are not going to raise taxes under any circumstance in the state of Illinois in 2025,” he said.

For the next fiscal year, Illinois faces a more than $3 billion budget deficit.