Lake County Gazette

Inflation is out of control. Business owners can’t fill job openings. The Delta variant is keeping unsustainable restrictions in place on businesses and manufacturers throughout our communities. And all the while, our lawmakers in Springfield are still trying to make life harder for workers and small business owners like me.

Illinois is notorious for our so called “stacked costs.” From eliminating mediated arbitration that forces small businesses to fork over settlement money to trial lawyers, to leaving us out to dry on COVID-19 liability, we simply cannot catch a break. What’s worse, Governor Pritzker recently signed into law Senate Bill 2408, which puts Illinois on an aggressive “carbon neutral” timeline. While politicians have been busy congratulating themselves for its passage, this legislation is going to dramatically spike energy prices and will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for small businesses that are still struggling through the pandemic.

Business expenses and prices for goods and services are high across the country, but they are even higher in Illinois. Legal loopholes exist in every state, but in Illinois they seem to target only the business community. The climate change movement is gaining steam everywhere, but it seems that the Prairie State has decided to accomplish its goals in this arena at the expense of thousands of small business owners.

If national woes such as COVID-19 and inflation are to be temporary, then we must not exacerbate the situation back home. Illinois lawmakers must reverse course immediately by tempering irresponsible climate policies and supporting job creators. If they do not act now, businesses will flee and unemployment will rise, while unnecessarily keeping the cost to operate a business sky high.