Sangamon Sun

Republican state Sen. Steve McClure is seeking to remind Gov. J.B. Pritzker that actions speak much louder than words.

“The governor is always talking about how he wants to help residents survive this COVID crisis, then he makes all these decisions without fully considering the impact they’re having on people,” McClure told the Sangamon Sun. “He’s not really going out in the community and hearing from people the way he needs to. The governor is simply living in a bubble and we’re paying the price”

At the head of the list are small business owners, with a new survey by small business referral network Alignable finding that 56% of all the state’s bar and restaurant owners were unable to pay their full rent last month as the effects of the governor's ban on indoor dining took greater hold.

Nationally, that figure stands at 61%, up 19% from just 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.

“It’s not surprising these small business owners are struggling the way they are,” McClure added. “There needs to be indoor dining service allowed with proper restrictions and there’s really no excuse for there not to be. I think these owners need to be doing what they need to do to survive. Everyone’s waiting on the governor to do the right thing, but no one knows what he’s thinking because he doesn’t let us see.”

McClure fears there may be a steep price to pay for all the uncertainty.

“It’s going to take us a long time to recover and a lot of change needs to happen to bring this state back to life,” he said. A lot of tough decisions have to made and I’m hoping the voters will take their power.”