Illinois Valley Times

A Peoria legislator linked Illinois' population decline to the state's public policy, high taxes and not being friendly to the business community. 

Rep. Ryan Spain's (R-Peoria) comments come as the state is reckoning with the loss of a congressional district based on the 2020 Census data released in late April. 

"I think it's important to point out that while we see population patterns changing in the state of Illinois, while we see the Midwest not leading the nation in terms of population growth compared to areas like the South, every state that is bordering the state of Illinois did not suffer the same fate that we have," Spain said at an April 26 news conference. "This is a terrible setback for our state of Illinois and it just shows in my opinion what happens when you have a state like Illinois with decades of poor public policy, high taxes and business unfriendliness."

Spain said that these issues, produced by the decades-long rule of the Democratic majority, will have real consequences for Illinois and that lawmakers should focus on the redistricting of their legislative districts in the meantime. 

Redistricting efforts continue now that U.S. Census data from 2020 is available, and Democrats have until June 30 to get a map to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for review; although Pritzker had initially promised in his campaign to veto a partisan map, he now believes Democrats will be able to do the task without gerrymandering. 

Spain stated that the political party governing the state while it loses tens of thousands of residents per year to other states with better jobs and housing opportunities should not be the party to decide the state's Congress, state Senate and state House districts. 

"The Democratic party has put our state into this position, and they want to be the only organization that draws legislative districts," Spain said, "and I think it's patently unfair and will lead to more of the same for the state of Illinois."