By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus say people want to leave the state because Gov. J.B. Pritzker has run it into the ground.

Last month in Southern Illinois, Pritzker said if people want to leave, “then get up and move.”

“I’d like you to get involved and make it a better place by working together with us, but if you want to leave, then get up and move,” Pritzker said on Aug. 28. “And there’s no chance that you’re going to pick up another county and have it join another state.”

While Indiana has a commission to investigate redrawing Indiana and Illinois boundaries to possibly include some Illinois counties into the Hoosier State, there are other movements in Illinois including non binding ballot referenda that have been approved by large swaths of the state to split Illinois into two, and separately the New Illinois movement drafting a new state constitution.

Attending the State Freedom Caucus Network Annual Summit in Dallas Saturday, Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said if he were the governor, he’d be doing some soul searching. He said Pritzker’s policies are not building taxpayers’ confidence, and that’s why voters are electing in nonbinding resolutions to split the state into two.

“He’s destroyed safety and security. He’s destroying quality education. He’s destroying economic opportunity. He’s destroying our energy independence, and those four things are huge drivers for the quality of life issues here in the state of Illinois,” Miller said.

Miller said the environment was created by bad public policy and, through good public policy, everything in Illinois could be fixed.

State Rep. Adam Niemerg said Pritzker’s comments are insulting given increased taxes and spending and far-left policies Pritzker enacted.

“And this jerk has the audacity to tell working class people in the state of Illinois that ‘if you don’t like it you can leave,’ give me a break,” Niemerg said.

Illinois lost population 10 of the past 11 years in annual estimates from the U.S. Census.