McHenry Times

Republican state Rep. Dan Ugaste laments Gov. J.B. Pritzker keeps making life harder for struggling small business owners across the state.

“The fact that many of them can’t make rent payments now shows you how much of what the governor has done with his COVID restrictions has only made life worse,” Ugaste told the McHenry Times. “People that own those business and their employees can no longer make a living for their families because of the governor’s actions. The truth is he’s crushing the restaurant industry and the effects sooner or later are going to be felt by other parts of the economy.”

As it is, a new survey by small business referral network Alignable finds that during the month of December 56% of all the state’s bar and restaurant owners were unable to pay their full rent as the sting of the governor’s ongoing ban on indoor dining took greater effect.

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.

Ugaste argues here in Illinois much of it could have been avoided under the right leadership.

“I’ve always said the governor should be working with the legislature to come up with the best solutions for the most people,” he said. “He’s never done that, and has kept the legislature out of the equation completely. Any time one person thinks they have the best answer for everyone all on their own you run the risk of seeing something like this happen. It’s time the governor got on board.”

Ugaste adds the stakes couldn’t be higher.

“There’s a domino effect to everything,” he said. “If the building owner isn’t receiving rent that means he’ll have problems paying taxes and the hits just keep coming. It’s problematic all down the line and all because the governor feels the need to show he’s doing something by crippling an industry.”