Lake County Gazette

Illinois Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington) marvels at how Springfield continues to be its worst enemy when it comes to the state’s staggering outmigration problem.

“Our policies, no matter how well-intentioned they may be, continue to resort in more people walking away from Illinois,” McLaughlin told the Lake County Gazette. “Whatever policies we’ve put in place over the last 10 years have not been working to grow our number of residents, job opportunities or businesses. It’s been a trifecta of bad direction, and we can’t keep going on like this.”

As it is, Illinois now stands as one of the most heavily taxed states in the country, leading many to seek less expensive options in other places. Illinois Policy Institute reported studies by two of the largest moving companies in the country that found more than 60% of all interstate moves handled by them in 2020 on behalf of Illinois residents were of the outbound variety.

With high taxes and job-related reasons ranking among the biggest issues many point to in their decision to move out of Illinois, U-Haul researchers also found that the state now ranks second-to-last in the country for inbound moves. This trend is at its highest point since World War II.

Through it all, McLaughlin remains optimistic about the state’s long-term outlook.

“It’s why I’m going to Springfield at this point in my life,” he said. “I think we have a chance to change course. I think rejecting the progressive tax was Step 1 in the process of making this state more desirable. Now, we need local taxing bodies to wake up and stop their spending and become more accountable to the people they represent.”