The grass is always greener on the other side

James Thorpe

Governor Bruce Rauner has recently claimed that high tax rates are leading to an exodus of citizens from Illinois and according to a new poll he is right in his claim. The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at the Southern Illinois University released a poll in which 47% of respondents claimed that they were prepared to leave the state with 27% citing high taxes as the main reason. Although 47% said they were prepared to leave the state only 20% said that they would leave within the next year. This is the first time that the Institute has asked these questions.

As many citizens are ready to leave the state, an even larger number say that the state is heading in the wrong direction. The survey found that 84% of Illinois voters believe the state is heading in the wrong direction which along with high tax rates is one of the top reasons as to why citizens want to leave the state. Shockingly weather was in second place behind taxes for why citizens want to leave the state. Illinois lost 67,535 more residents than it gains during 2014-2015 and this is expected to continue for the coming years as the state is in one of the worst budget standoff’s in the history of state and national government. Other reasons people are leaving the state is education/job, other and family reasons. Many younger Illinois citizens are moving to up and coming cities such as Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee for their low tax rates and booming job growth.