House hopeful Jillian Bernas said Illinois' out-migration is out of hand.
Responding to Illinois Policy Institute's Dec. 1 "New IRS Data: Illinois Sees Record Loss of People, Income to Other States" report, the candidate for the 56th House District, which includes Schaumburg, Hanover Park, Roselle and Elk Grove Village, released a statement on her Facebook page.
"I am running for state representative to keep families in Illinois. Young Millennials are leading Illinois’ outmigration of more than 86,000 people and $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income,” said Bernas, the Republican who garnered 44.7 percent of the vote in 2016 against Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg).
Illinois Policy cites Internal Revenue Service statistics, reporting that “Illinois saw a net loss of nearly 42,000 tax returns to other states on the year,” which signifies a net loss of more than 86,100 citizens, as noted by Bernas' post.
“That’s an all-time high,” according to the report.
Bernas said though repositioning their lives is an option for her and her fiancé, the two refuse to relocate.
“We choose to stay in Illinois and fight,” Bernas said.
According to the Illinois Policy, “the top 10 states to which Illinois lost people were: Florida (12,800 exemptions gained from Illinois on net), Texas (9,400), Indiana (8,200), California (7,600), Arizona (6,400), Wisconsin (6,000), Colorado (4,700), Georgia (4,200), Tennessee (3,600) and North Carolina (2,700).”
“Illinois’ exodus of people and money is the state’s most pressing policy problem,” the report reads. “Until lawmakers get serious about addressing its causes, there’s little reason to think the trend will change.”
Regardless of the reports future forecast, Bernas said she will fight on.
“We are fighting for retirees being priced out of their homes, parents seeing their children move to other states, and young people that just want to find opportunity close to home," Bernas said.
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