By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Now that Chrysler’s parent company is no longer making Jeeps in Belvidere – and expanding its electric-vehicle operations not in Illinois, but in Kokomo, Ind. – Republican lawmakers have had enough.

They say while Illinois still has a great workforce and unmatched transportation networks, property taxes and now a guaranteed week off for everybody drag the state down.

It wasn’t always this way.

“Illinois was once a hub for business in the Midwest, especially for manufacturers who wanted to locate and grow here. This was true throughout the whole nation; businesses would look to Illinois to bring their businesses because of our strengths,” said State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) at a statehouse news conference.

“We can do that again. We can be that again.”

State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) said it all happened as Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act, something meant to keep businesses from going to places like Kokomo. 

That incentive, by the way, is called the REV Act for short. State Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) said its lack of success makes it more like the “Putt-Putt Act.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].