{"id":340571,"date":"2025-10-29T10:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340571\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:45:17","slug":"we-say-we-love-chicago-but-our-policies-tell-another-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340571\/","title":{"rendered":"We say we love Chicago, but our policies tell another story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago is a city of resilience, of dreams realized and obstacles overcome. We tell ourselves we love this place because we believe in its promise \u2014 the promise of bold innovation, of families rising, of communities flourishing.
But love, real love of our city and state, is more than a tagline. It\u2019s not simply wrapping ourselves in \u201cChicago pride\u201d while silently allowing policies that undermine job growth, scare away investment and sap the future of our children. If we truly love Chicago and Illinois, we must ask: Are our leaders and our policies aligned with building a future of opportunity \u2014 or are they writing checks to decline?<\/p>\n

Recently, the mayor\u2019s budget proposal for 2026 and beyond signals a troubling turn. The plan pushes forward nearly half a billion dollars in new or increased taxes, including head taxes on employers and levies on tech and cloud services, at the very moment companies are asking \u201cWhy stay?\u201d or \u201cWhy move in?\u201d to our city. Meanwhile, over and over, we hear that \u201cwe support business\u201d and \u201cwe love Chicago.\u201d But the policies tell a different story: a city that taxes its growth engines instead of fueling them.
Let\u2019s be clear: Love isn\u2019t asking job creators to pay for mistakes that compound over decades. Love isn\u2019t penalizing firms for hiring people or staying in Chicago. Love isn\u2019t telling the talents of tomorrow \u201cYou\u2019re welcome here,\u201d while the tax code and regulatory posture whisper \u201cYou might be better off somewhere else.\u201d When we ask our elected leaders to raise costs on hiring, on capital, on digital innovation, we don\u2019t strengthen our city; we hollow out its future.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce consistently hears from employers, investors and workforce leaders that Chicago and Illinois must compete globally for jobs, talent and capital. If instead we act like a high-cost environment that rewards wait-and-see and punishes growth, we lose. The question isn\u2019t whether the city is \u201clovable\u201d \u2014 it is whether we are making it lovable for enterprise, innovation and upward mobility.
Consider this: When a major corporation evaluates locating or expanding in our region, the calculus includes taxes, regulations, workforce readiness and perceptions of momentum. If the signal we send is \u201cmore burden, less reward,\u201d then the map in the boardroom will often point somewhere else. That\u2019s not theoretical; the record of companies leaving or locating elsewhere shows exactly that.
Loving Chicago means embracing a growth-first mindset:<\/p>\n