By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO – Illinois’ politicians and business leaders have agreed that they’re taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to courting Amazon’s newest location, which will bring with it tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. Democrats running for governor are taking a noticeably different tone.
Gov. Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are working together with a group of more than 200 public and private sector advocates to persuade Amazon that Chicago is where it should plant its second headquarters. Counties across the state are offering up bold incentives to get the retail giant’s attention.
But in a forum hosted by a number of unions Sunday, many of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates weren’t as gung-ho about the process.
Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy riffed on the unfairness of Amazon’s low tax rates in Chicago, calling it “corporate welfare.”
“We’re destroying our economy to accommodate a single company,” he said.
Democrat Party favorite J.B. Pritzker was more reserved with his comments, only saying that Amazon should be held accountable for any incentives the state would give them.
“We should only do it if it is truly enuring to the benefit of the taxpayers and that means a real rate of return on the investment,” he said.
State Senator Daniel Biss told the crowd that they shouldn’t be shoveling money to big corporations.
“If the question is ‘how much should we give Amazon,’ the answer is ‘not much,'” the Evanston Democrat said.
Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, 47th ward, said he’s got a problem giving Amazon any money.
“The jobs that Amazon is creating in those warehouses aren’t good jobs at all,” he said. “They’re 1099 employees with no benefits that pay $14 an hour. That’s crap.”
Should Illinois land Amazon’s 50,000 jobs, they would become the state’s largest employer, ahead of the federal government, Chicago’s schools, city government, and Cook County Government.
