Former Republican state House candidate Jim Walsh says Illinois tax policies are causing people to leave the state. | Courtesy Photo
Former Republican state House candidate Jim Walsh says Illinois tax policies are causing people to leave the state. | Courtesy Photo
Jim Walsh is urging Illinois residents to join him in taking a stand against the state’s crippling outmigration problem.
“It’s going to take people standing up to [the] government and letting it be known that they’ve had enough of being harmed by all these bad policies,” Walsh, a former Republican House candidate for District 62, told the Lake County Gazette. “Right now, the way we’re taxing people out of this state is really a scary thing, and it’s stopping Illinois from being the best state it can be.”
Illinois is one of the highest-taxed states, prompting frustrated residents to seek shelter in more tax-friendly locations. According to the Illinois Policy Institute, studies by two of the largest moving companies in the country found upward of 60% of all moves serviced by them on behalf of state residents in 2020 were outbound in nature.
With job-related reasons ranking as one of the main issues residents leave, U-Haul researchers also found that the state ranks second-to-last in the country for inbound moves. The trend set the state on pace for experiencing its greatest overall outmigration since World War II.
Walsh worries Illinois could get worse before it gets better.
“We’ve already bankrupted the state, and now we’re pushing all these other crazy policies like the police crime bill we passed during the lame-duck session that puts a target on officers and makes it almost impossible for them to do their jobs,” he said.
With high taxes and what he sees as bad policy adding up, Walsh said he often worries about what kind of future the state may be headed toward.
“Chicago politics have taken over everything, even spreading to the collar counties, and I don’t know how we’ll ever get rid of it now,” he said.
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