Will County Gazette

Conservative activist Mike Fricilone doesn’t hold back in voicing his concern about the impact he thinks all Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive actions are having on the state.

“I’ve always said what he’s doing with the restrictions is basically destroying our small business industry,” Fricilone told the Will County Gazette. “We have to give our small business owners enough of an opportunity to stay alive and with all the restrictions, I really don’t feel the governor is doing that right now.”

Fricilone points to a new survey by small business referral network Alignable that details how December saw 56% of all the state’s bar and restaurant owners unable to make full rent payments as the sting of the governor’s ongoing ban on indoor dining took greater effect. Nationally, that figure stands at 61%, up 19% from a month earlier with the harshest part of the winter season still yet to come. In Illinois, the number of restaurants now unable to make full rent payments has already more than doubled since September.

Fricilone worries things could get worse before they get better, barring a complete change of direction in Springfield.

“Without that, there’ll be a lot of businesses in this state going down for good and it doesn’t have to be that way,” he said. “If you look at other states that had similar issues but decided to do things differently from Illinois, their businesses are now thriving and I believe they also have better COVID numbers. I really don’t think anything the governor has done with the restrictions has helped the situation. In fact, his actions may have actually made matters worse by fostering more people getting together in other ways and making the spread worse.”

Fricilone argues the damage caused by Pritzker’s actions don’t end there.

“We’re on track to lose maybe two congressional seats and that means less power for the state and less dollars,” he said. “All of that will only drive more people out of Illinois.”