Border War In The Midwest: Indiana And Illinois Fight For Growth

Forbes reports:

Last week, the Indiana state legislature passed further reductions in corporate business tax rates that, within eight years, will establish the Hoosier State as having the lowest business tax rate in the country. Indiana Governor Mike Pence has said that he plans to sign it into law. The bill will lower the corporate income tax rate each year through 2022, when the 4.9% rate will become the lowest corporate rate in the U.S. It also provides three options for local governments to lower the business personal property tax.

This is good news for Indiana, which is rapidly becoming a pro-growth model for states that are looking for ways to compete for employers, jobs, and tax revenues. Smart fiscal policies are improving the lives of workers across the state. Indiana now creates one out of every ten new jobs in America and actually rebates surplus funds to its taxpayers.

Unfortunately, this is bad news for Illinois, Indiana’s neighbor to the east. Illinois is wrestling with an unfunded pension liability of $187 billion, a recent ranking of last place in job creation with an anemic growth rate of 0.98, and the highest jobless rate in the Midwest. Even more troubling, Illinois’ paltry 11% increase in manufacturing jobs since 2009 has kept families who are struggling to make ends meet tied to unemployment lines. Compare this with Indiana manufacturing jobs’ recovery rates, which are close to 50%, and it is easy to see why the stakes are high for Illinois workers this election cycle.

We are pretty sure Cook County Democrats hope you don't read this story: who could forget that Indiana is now a right to work state unlike Illinois?