Metro East Sun

Former Illinois House candidate Mike Babcock (R-Bethalto) fears what could come of the state's small business industry if Gov. J.B. Pritzker persists in what Babcock sees as the governor's shortsighted plan for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re all respectful of the health care crisis this pandemic has posed, but at the same time we’ve got people all over this state begging for the chance to return to work so they can take care of their families,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “We need to have a plan in the state of Illinois that indicates what the next steps are in getting the economy back up and rolling.”

Being a small business owner himself, Babcock says he speaks from his own painful experience.

“This is devastating on small businesses and the workers connected to those businesses,” he said. “That has to change and we need to social distance, but if we continue down the road of keeping people from work, we’re heading down the road of no return for a lot of businesses that deserve better.”

A new Coronavirus Small Business Survey by WalletHub bares that out, concluding that 35 percent of small businesses in the U.S. indicate that they can only survive for a few months under current conditions. In addition, 68 percent said they feel the government is not doing enough to help them.

“We need to do everything in a smart way, but I think it’s essential that we get back to work and that it’s vitally important that we get the economy back up and running," Babcock said. "If we persist in this and allow our economy to be totally shattered for too much longer, you’re talking about destroying a lot of lives beyond what’s repairable in the near future.”