Metro East Sun

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is not paying attention to the ancillary problems created by COVID-19, including business closures and job losses, according to a Downstate senator.

“There's certain businesses that are doing quite well in this environment but the vast majority of businesses are struggling,” state Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) told the Metro East Sun. “Some have shut down and some will be shutting down. Obviously, we hope that all of them come back but not all of them will come back. As businesses shut down, we lose jobs. Those jobs that are disappearing are just adding to the crisis that we're facing.”

Plummer made the comments in response to a Yelp study, which found that Illinois is among the top five states with the highest number of business closures due to the pandemic. The other states include California, Texas, New York and Florida.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | File photo

Yelp’s quarterly report further found that 5,100 Illinois-based businesses listed on the review-based website have either temporarily closed or will permanently shutter due to COVID-19 governmental shutdown orders. About 2,800 Illinois businesses have permanently shuttered and 2,300 more have closed temporarily as a result of the pandemic. 

“Everyone says that we're in a crisis, and absolutely we are, but it's not just a pandemic crisis,” Plummer said. “It's an economic crisis. It's a school crisis. It's a tax-revenue crisis for any municipality or local government you talk to. The decisions we make are impacting all these things, and the governor is not being genuine in his public commentary on these issues. These are serious problems that will take years to correct and right now the governor is not paying any attention to them.”

While waiting for the state legislature to resume, Plummer says his office's constituent services have been busy.

“I've got a great team of people that are working hard to help people with their unemployment needs, their issues related to licenses and different assistance and services they need from the state during this crisis,” said Plummer. “That's the most important part of my job, constituent services, but when it comes to holding the governor accountable, making sure that there's transparency and ensuring that the other branch of government is providing its rightful role in our system, that can’t happen unless we are in session, and they're intentionally keeping us out of session.”

About 4,400 of the 5,100 endangered businesses listed in the Yelp study are Chicago-based, and the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) determined the state could potentially lose 94,200 service-sector jobs permanently if a surge in coronavirus cases leads to additional governmental-closure orders.

“Chicago’s economic fallout, exacerbated by new COVID-19 restrictions, could very likely set the tone for the rest of the state,” IPI Chief Economist Orphe Divounguy said. “Thousands of businesses previously banking on temporary closures and a slow but steady return to normal are quickly seeing these shutdowns become permanent.”

As of Aug. 24, there were 221,790 coronavirus cases overall in Illinois and 7,888 fatalities, according to the Illinois Department of Health.