The proposed “big box” ordinance scheduled for a vote
this week in the Chicago City Council represents an unwise and
unfortunate continuation of a pattern of activity by
legislative bodies in our state that sends a clear message to
employers and investors: we don’t care if you come here or
not.
At a time when jobs creation ought to be the
primary goal of every elected official in the state, the city
council has embarked on an experiment in social engineering
that is bound to cause big-store retailers to scale back jobs
and hours for current employees and to deprive Chicagoans of
the massive future economic benefits that construction of 20
or more new “big box” stores would bring.
The proposal
singles out one part of the retail community – employers with
stores larger than 90,000 square feet or more than $1 billion
in annual sales – to pay higher minimum wages and benefits to
its workers than any other business in the city would have to
pay.
The ordinance is very bad public policy,
discriminatory and very likely unconstitutional. But that is
not stopping the council from plunging ahead with an action
that, if passed, will serve as a warning label to employers
all over the world.
Many politicians ignore the truth
that there are economic consequences to political decisions.
They prefer the instant gratification of making some patron
happy (it’s a lot more fun) to thinking about the long-term
effects of their threatening rhetoric and disruptive actions.
Make no mistake, this ordinance is politically
motivated by union leaders whose simple goals are to recruit
new members and leverage high wages in future contracts. Those
goals would be achieved at the expense of the thousands of new
jobs that would be created in Chicago by construction of new
“big box” stores.
Employers and investors have choices
to make when they decide where to do business. They look for a
stable, even nurturing environment that allows them to do
business at a reasonable cost and make a reasonable profit.
We need to create this kind of environment in
Illinois, because it does not currently exist. When investors
look at our state, they see a place with high property taxes,
high workers’ compensation costs and high labor costs. Beyond
the dollar costs they see intensive regulation – such as the
“big box” proposal – that creates prohibitive barriers to
entering the marketplace. They see an unfriendly political
environment, represented both by the Illinois General Assembly
and now by the Chicago City Council, in which it is foolish to
make an investment.
Chicago is the heartbeat and the
image of Illinois worldwide. When the City Council puts up
barriers to jobs growth, as this ordinance would do, its
negative effect tarnishes the whole state and imposes another
competitive disadvantage.
Elected officials in
Illinois need to let the marketplace work and encourage
competitive freedom. The private sector, represented in this
case by Wal-Mart, has a plan to create thousands of jobs,
produce millions of dollars of sales tax revenue and bring
convenient and affordable shopping to millions of Chicago
residents by building 20 new stores in the city.
It is
an approach that will bring economic rejuvenation to city
neighborhoods that need it most. But instead, the City Council
proposes to send the signal to employers and investors that
they are not welcome here.
Every citizen of Illinois
needs to care about our governments sending these kinds of
signals, and every elected official needs to refresh his or
her memory about how economic growth comes about. China, for
example, abandoned communism, embraced capitalism and has an
economy humming along at an 11 per cent growth rate. The most
recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures show Illinois’
economy grew 2.1 per cent in 2004-05, placing it in the second
lowest quartile nationally.
Aldermen, as you consider
this issue, take note: If Chicago and Illinois do not change
the face they present to the business world, our state’s
economy will continue to limp along, our work force will
continue to be underemployed and our children and
grandchildren will be e-mailing us from the Sun Belt, where
they’ve moved for good jobs.
Doug Whitley
President and CEO
Illinois Chamber of
Commerce |
