Chicago City Wire

David Krupa points to Gov. J.B. Pritzker as the biggest culprit he sees as responsible for the state's long sagging economy.

"My belief is that the state was heading for hard times even if the COVID crisis would have never happened, and it all starts with the way the governor has run this state from the beginning," Krupa, the Republican Ward 13 committeeman, told Chicago City Wire. "It was just a matter of time before all his reckless spending and bad budgeting caught up to us in the worse way."

Krupa said he's not surprised that the state lost a record-setting 423,000 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce, in 2020, with the declines coming in every metropolitan area of the state. In Chicago, unemployment numbers more than tripled over a yearlong period ending in December 2020 to 8.7%.

"All those numbers are indicators of how poorly we're functioning as a state, and that runs a lot deeper than just the pandemic," he said. "To be honest, I'm convinced the governor's drastic response to the virus, meaning all the shutdowns and all the restrictions he imposed, even made that worse than it had to."

As the pandemic's effects continue to linger, Krupa said he worries the worse may still not be over.

"It looks like we'll be suffering as a state for years to come, and the governor still isn't doing anything to get the economy turned around and back on the right track," he said. "We're still losing businesses that were forced to shutter for so long they lost any chanced they had of surviving."

In the end, Krupa said he sees just one way forward when it comes to improving the state's long-term outlook.

"We need new leadership, and we need to be electing more Republicans that are committed to putting the interest of the people first instead of just more self-serving," he said. "If we're going to get this state turned around, we've got to start pushing taxpayer and business-friendly policies."