Many leaders these days are talking about turning around Illinois' business climate and talking about putting Illinois back to work.  There is almost universal consensus that our economic policies of the last decade have driven jobs out of the state.  The problem is that many leaders are long on rhetoric and short on substance.  I wanted to take this opportunity to lay out a 6-step plan to put Illinois back to work.

The first step is to roll back the onerous tax hikes on our working families.  Most businesses will tell you right now that they don't need low interest loans or tax incentives.  What they need is customers and people aren't buying right now. 

Part of that is the overall economic climate. Part is that after years of chronic overspending of money we knew we didn't have Springfield decided to raid one-week of pay from our hardworking families in the form of an income tax hike.  It is time for legislators to make the tough decisions to restructure and reform government so that it is sustainable, not look for more ways to extract money from businesses and the public.

The corporate tax structure also needs reform.  Not only is the corporate tax rate one of the highest in developed world, it disproportionately falls on the backs of small and medium business.  Every economist will tell you, small and medium businesses are the driver of economic growth yet our tax code falls on them because connected large businesses have their share of cutouts and tax giveaways leaving that tax burden to others without clout.  Taxes should be broad, flat and low and our corporate tax structure should be reformed to eliminate subsidies and corporate welfare.

Next, we need to limit all the upfront costs and obstacles to starting a business.  Government cannot create jobs, but it can remove the obstacles to job growth.  In a recent conversation with voters in the district, I heard the story of someone who saved his money to buy an ice cream truck. A modest business to be sure, but business nonetheless.  When his municipality heard of this, they informed him he needed a $150 a month special use permit before he could sell ice cream.  This is one small example of needless obstacles in the way of economic growth.

It isn't just permits, fees and paperwork.  Many jobs require professional licensure and regulation where such bureaucracy makes no sense.  If you want to be an interior decorator, why does the state need to license you before you pick out drapes for a customer?  Why do we license people to paint nails, cut hair, or braid hair?  We shouldn't have to beg government to allow us to participate in the economy as a business owner.

Another item to be reformed is the onerous regulations that make no sense.  Take the case of Nice Cream out of Chicago which makes artisan ice cream.  They had a recent visit from the Department of Public Health and told they had to pasteurize their ice cream (even though it was already using pasteurized milk) and that they couldn't use fresh strawberries.  Mindless regulations and unknown regulatory bodies routinely shake down businesses for no other reason than they can.  Regulation can and should be pared down.

Lastly, we need real workers compensation reform and tort reform.  While it is true, a workers compensation bill was passed that purported to be reform, it was far from enough.  Sure, you can't collect a claim if you're drunk and get injured and that's an improvement, but even the Attorney General said it is a gross overstatement to call that bill real reform.  Workers compensation and liability insurance are upfront costs that put huge incentives on businesses to leave the state and take jobs with them.

In the last decade, Illinois has lost about 15% of its manufacturing jobs to Wisconsin and Indiana.  Danville, in particularly, usually makes a short-list for a business to locate there but comes in second to Indiana.  We need to turn around our business climate and we will bring businesses and jobs back to this state.  This framework will go a long way to showing businesses that Illinois is open for business again.

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John Bambenek is a Republican Candidate for State Senate in the 52nd district.  He can be reached at http://www.johnbambenek.com or at john@johnbambenek.com