Will County Gazette

House Republican Floor Leader, Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), is at a loss for words in describing the level of damage he thinks Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s (D) handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has meant for the state.

“The small business industry is the backbone of the state and country, and since the pandemic hit, all the governor’s actions have done nothing but make life harder for them,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “It’s really been tough to see as we’ve lost business after business.”

A new TrackTheRecovery.org analysis finds that since the beginning of the year, Illinis has lost more than a third of all small its businesses. Data compiled by Harvard and Brown universities, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, shows as of mid-November the number of small businesses open dipped by some 35.4% compared to January of this year. The industry also experiencing a revenue decline topping 39% since January.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) | Stock Photo

“The loss of small businesses is an extremely disturbing trend and we need to be doing all we can to reverse it,” Batinick said. “I’ve said it over and over again, that starts with us being back in Springfield doing the people’s business and working with the governor to come up with an approach that works best for everybody.”

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Illinois State Director, Mark Grant, points out that running a small business in Illinois was already quite the challenge even before the pandemic hit given such factors as higher property taxes and workers’ compensation.

Batinick said he fears all of that is lost on the governor and longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), both of whom he said have the power to reconvene the legislator but only seem interested in promoting their on interests. 

“We aren’t in Springfield right now because Madigan doesn’t think he has the votes to be reelected for another term,” Batinick said. “That’s the real truth of the matter.”

The state’s longest tenured lawmaker, Madigan now finds himself at the center of an ongoing federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme where all the perks were allegedly steered to him in exchange for favorable legislation.