Will County Gazette

Laurie McPhillips hopes to bring common sense back to the world of Springfield politics.

“Right now, lawmakers have everything going in the direction opposite of where it should be heading by steadily increasing the size of government spending and regulations,” McPhillips told Will County Gazette. “Everything that’s rational tells us that smaller government would mean more business and a better economy for the state as a whole.”

McPhillips points to a recent Thumbtack Small Business Friendly Survey that finds Illinois now rates as the “least accommodating state in the country” for small business owners, earning the state a failing grade for its level of friendliness and regulations.

Nancy Schultz Voots

Illinois Policy Institute reports the online services company’s survey of local entrepreneurs and small business owners also blasts state lawmakers over the government’s inferior websites and slaps the state with similarly low marks in such areas as aiding in the launch of a new business.

“The career politicians don’t seem to realize that most of the job creators in this state are small business owners,” said McPhillips, a Will County board member from Plainfield vying to replace retiring Nancy Schultz Voots as Will County's clerk. “To me, it all boils down to a lack of adequate leadership coming from Springfield.”

McPhillips ties the state’s still-rising tax rates to its steady stream of outmigration, which recently led to Illinois falling behind Pennsylvania in population size and off the list of Top 5 largest populations in the country.

“They’re just too many taxes and regulations and that’s a big part of why we’re losing so many people to states that are far more business-friendly,” McPhillips said. “I’ve said it before, the only thing that keeps people in Illinois these days is family.”