People have finally had enough. They’re leaving Illinois by the droves and taking their wealth with them.

Illinois saw a net loss of more than 86,100 people in 2015-2016 and lost $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income on net to other states.

Since the Democrat tax hike in 2011, the flight of Illinois residents leaving to other states has accelerated and Chicago Democrats and Surrender Republicans answer was to burden us with an additional 32% income tax hike without any reforms! The average family in Batavia will be forced to sacrifice an additional $1,008 a year for a more expensive status quo.

I’m going to Springfield to stop the insanity of tax and spend policies that are currently bankrupting our state and hurting our families.

I want Illinois families to be able to stay together in Illinois and not be forced to split up because of financial reasons. I’m going to Springfield to defend our homes and families, represent the people’s interests and stop the raising of our property taxes.

It’s not too late to save our state – we just need the right people in Springfield to do it. I’m running to be your voice and true representative in the Capitol.

Here is the original story as reported by Illinois Policy:

The Land of Lincoln is experiencing heavy losses of people and income to other states, new IRS data reveal. Illinois lost more than 86,000 people and $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income to other states from 2015-2016.

Illinois’ problem with wealth flight isn’t just persisting, it’s getting worse. That’s the takeaway from new data released by the Internal Revenue Service on Nov. 30. In terms of both people and income, the Land of Lincoln saw a record-breaking exodus in the 2015 tax year (2015-2016).

Illinois saw a net loss of nearly 42,000 tax returns to other states on the year, representing a net loss of more than 86,100 people (measured in exemptions), according to the IRS. That’s an all-time high.

And when people leave the state, they don’t just take their talent, drive, and ingenuity. They take their wallets, too.

Illinois lost $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income, or AGI, on net to other states in the tax year 2015. That’s also an all-time high. While residents saw $6.35 billion in AGI move into Illinois from other states, $11.10 billion moved out of Illinois to another state.

It’s not retired snowbirds who are driving the flight from Illinois. Analysis of IRS data for previous years shows how millennials are in fact leading the Illinois exodus. Further, the most recent IRS data show Illinois lost income and people on net to every neighboring state. It’s not just the weather.

To where exactly are people walking?

The top 10 states to which Illinois lost people were: Florida (12,800 exemptions gained from Illinois on net), Texas (9,400), Indiana (8,200), California (7,600), Arizona (6,400), Wisconsin (6,000), Colorado (4,700), Georgia (4,200), Tennessee (3,600) and North Carolina (2,700).

Since the 2011 temporary income tax hikes, the flight of wealth and people from Illinois has accelerated.

This consistent, worsening trend is an indictment of the policy status quo in Illinois. A 2016 Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll found Illinoisans cited taxes as the No. 1 reason for wanting to leave the state. And while Illinois’ temporary income tax hike partially sunset at the start of 2015, left to run wild was the largest tax Illinoisans pay: property taxes. Illinoisans shoulder the heaviest property tax burden in the nation, according to a 2016 study from real-estate services company CoreLogic.

Yet for years, Springfield has rejected any substantial reforms to address the cost-drivers behind those property tax bills: the highest number of local governments in the nation, skyrocketing local pension costs and an unfair bargaining regime that stacks the deck against taxpayers in negotiations, to name a few. Proposals for a hard property tax cap have been rebuffed as well.

Of course, taxes aren’t the only reason people are leaving. The state’s laggard economy, evidenced by legions of Illinoisans dropping out of the workforce altogether, is another likely culprit.

Illinois’ exodus of people and money is the state’s most pressing policy problem.

Until lawmakers get serious about addressing its causes, there’s little reason to think the trend will change.

This story originally appeared in Illinois Policy on December 1, 2017, and was written by Austin Berg.

For more information: Read about Tonia Khouri, her experience, leadership, stand on the issues and her endorsements.