Kane County Reporter

Ben Bierly fears the worse may be yet to come in the state’s battle to gain control over the COVID-19 crisis.

“Small businesses are already struggling across the board and I’m concerned it’s going to get worse because of what’s going to happen was things get even harder for them with the governor’s restrictions still being in place,” Bierly told the Kane County Reporter. “People could start losing their homes, and from there things could trickle down to impact even more people.”

As it is, a new survey by small business referral network Alignable finds that during the month of December 56% of all the state’s bar and restaurant owners were unable to pay full rent for their establishments as the governor’s ban on indoor dining took greater hold amid the changing seasons.

Nationally, that figure stands at 61%, up 19% from just a month earlier with the harshest part of the winter season still yet to come. In Illinois, the number of restaurants now unable to make full rent payments has already more than doubled since September.

Again, Bierly, who bagged nearly 36% of the vote in his run against incumbent democratic state Sen. John Connor in the 85th District, worries about what could come next.

“I don’t see how the governor can think government can be the solution to all these problems,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of the way and allow these businesses to operate. For all the damage caused by COVID, I think there’s equal damage being caused by the reaction to all the governor’s restrictions. Pritzker wants a government state, but his actions are ruining people and we’re just seeing the start of the financial train wreck.”