Downstate Illinois is Hurting, Yet Few Notice
June 2, 2023
By Jim Nowlan
“Downstate Illinois” (the 95 counties outside the 7 metropolitan Chicago counties) is hurting, yet few seem to notice. A bipartisan Downstate caucus of lawmakers could establish a dashboard of goals and priorities for their sprawling region, and advocate to achieve them.
Downstate stretches 400 miles from north to south, and has 4.3 million residents, to Chicago’s 2.7 million (with 5.7 mil in the ’burbs). Yet, the major media focus on the City. Metro-Chicago folks tend to take weekend breaks in Wisconsin and Michigan; downstate is to most a vague afterthought, at best.
Downstate is much poorer than Chicago and its metropolitan region, so the latter are forced to pay handsomely to beef up services for their country cousin region. You might say metro-Chicago has a soft spot in its heart for downstate, which I believe it honestly does.
According to a 2018 study from SIU that cites 2013 figures, downstate received $1.69 in state spending for every $1.00 the region sent to the state in taxes. In contrast, Cook County received 90 cents back for every dollar sent to the state in taxes, while the suburban collar counties received but 53 cents back in state services for every dollar their taxpayers contributed to the state in taxes.
Population, good jobs and corporate headquarters have been fleeing downstate. Most downstate counties lost residents in the past decade. The CAT and ADM C-suites departed Peoria and Decatur in recent years; ominously, at least to some, Moline-based John Deere has recently plastered Chicago’s Union Station with ads that tout the tractor-maker’s connection to the City, as it recruits top talent to its new tech center in the Loop.
Education achievement in most schools downstate lags badly that in most suburban schools.
Much of what Illinois state government does is located disproportionately downstate, such as highways, public and private colleges and universities, and state parks and our natural resources. Because of understaffing, many of our state parks have become decrepit. I am told that state employee numbers at the iconic New Salem State Park, where A. Lincoln became a man, have declined in recent decades, from 23 to 5. Ditto for other parks.
Many downstaters no longer travel to Chicago, for fear of its crime. So, it is ironic that cities such as Peoria, Rockford, Decatur and Champaign have higher gun violence crime and homicide rates than Chicago! This according to a recent study from the U. of I. at Springfield.
Yet, downstate has some remarkable strengths. Jim Schultz is a successful entrepreneur-investor from Effingham in south-central Illinois. He points out that in each of the six Rs critical to economic development—roads, rails, runways, rivers, routers and research—Illinois is arguably among the top three states in the nation. Obviously, as anyone can see on a map, much of these valued “Rs” are spread across Downstate.
And need I mention that in 2022 Downstate Illinois was the number one producer of both corn and soybeans among our 50 states.
Downstate was a political powerhouse for most of our state’s history, yet has become the weak sister to Chicago-Cook and the collar county regions. The GOP dominates rural and small-town downstate, yet has only one-third of all state lawmakers.
In the 1980s, a bipartisan downstate caucus existed under the leadership of the late Rep. Dick Mautino (D-Spring Valley), until squelched by House Speaker Mike Madigan, as a threat to his consolidation of power.
At regular meetings of a Downstate Caucus, there could be cross-fertilization of ideas and concerns among its mid-size city Democratic and small-town GOP lawmakers. Downstate public universities could provide research for the caucus on the region’s problems—and solutions. The Dem members of the caucus could educate and advocate within their dominant, metro-Chicago Democratic legislative delegation.
If Downstate does better, all Illinois benefits.
Half a century ago, Nowlan served in the Illinois House. A retired professor of politics at the University of Illinois, he has worked for three unindicted Illinois governors. Books Nowlan has authored, several about Illinois, can be found at jimnowlan.net. He lives in Princeton, Illinois.
