Don Tracy: Illinois Blueprint Delivers Government Growth, Not Private-Sector Opportunity
SPRINGFIELD — New employment data shows that since January 2019, Illinois has added a net of just 9,400 private-sector jobs while government payrolls have grown by more than 36,600 positions under the Pritzker-Stratton administration.
Illinois ranks 44th in the nation for job growth during that period and posted the lowest growth rate among the country's 20 largest state economies. Overall job growth totaled just 0.75%, well below neighboring states, which averaged roughly 2.5%.
"Lt Governor Stratton keeps promising to bring the Illinois Blueprint to Washington. This report shows exactly what that blueprint produces: more government jobs, more bureaucracy, and less private-sector growth," said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy.
"Illinois ranks 44th in the nation for job growth since Pritzker and Stratton took office, while government payrolls grew nearly four times faster than private-sector employment. That's not economic growth. It’s government bloat.
"Working families don't build the American Dream through a larger bureaucracy. They build it through growing businesses, rising wages, and private sector equal opportunity.
"I've spent my career working with job creators, manufacturers, farmers, and small businesses. I understand that every additional tax increase, regulation, and added cost of doing business in Illinois makes it harder to hire workers, expand operations, and increase employee compensation.
"Illinois doesn't need more government jobs. It needs more private sector opportunity. And America doesn't need the Illinois Blueprint. Illinois needs an economic growth blueprint."
Don Tracy is available for phone, video, and in-studio interviews.
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About Don Tracy:
Don is Senior Counsel at Brown, Hay & Stephens, the oldest law firm in Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln famously practiced law for four years. Public service is important to Don, with a lifetime spent in community service, most often in volunteer positions. He has served as Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, Chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, Secretary of the Illinois Bar Foundation, President of the Sangamon County Bar Association, Chairman of the Illinois Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, and President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board, among other community leadership positions. Born in Urbana, raised in Mt. Sterling in Western Illinois, and having raised his own family in Springfield in Central Illinois, Don has deep ties to "downstate Illinois." As the oldest of 12 children, family has always been important to Don.