Lake County Gazette

Incoming Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) is familiar with voters' growing frustrations with the way Springfield conducts business.

"It's a constant topic of conversation and one of the reasons we're losing so many great families and businesses as more people decide to just walk away from Illinois," Bos told the Lake County Gazette. "They see the handwriting on the wall, and they know there's no way this can state sustain what it's doing over the long term." 

Bos, who defeated incumbent Rep. Mary Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville) with 51% of the vote in District 51, noted that the state continues to see residents migrate to other states. 

In all, federal statistics show approximately 170,000 residents leaving, adding that 93 of the state's 102 counties also lost population over that time, topped by the Cook County area at approximately 49,000 residents, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Finally, at least 10 counties have seen outward migration of more than 5,000 people, with Bos fearing things may get worse before improving.

"It comes down to things like our tax burden being the highest in the country and people no longer trusting our political system after years of mismanagement," Bos said. "After all the bad budgets and persistent corruption, people feel like they can't trust the system to do what it needs to be doing in order to right these wrongs."

Analysis shows that downstate counties have particularly been hard hit, with the region losing 144,000 residents or 3.2% of its 2010 population over the same period. In addition, data shows the losses in Cook County represent the second-worst losses of residents in any country across the country, with only Wayne County in Michigan losing more people.

Bos argues the time for change is now.

"We need to have a have a hard conversation that asks the question of are we really doing the best we can with what we're being given by the taxpayers," he said. "We've got a lot of hard work to do, and the governor and those in power playing the blame game while trying to come up with another reason to raise taxes isn't going to help. People have overwhelmingly voted. They don't see that as the solution right now, and our focus needs to be somewhere else."