Friday, May 15, 2009

Ill. gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady proposes bill blocking anti-big box ordinances

Big box stores such as Wal-Mart provide lots of jobs--Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer--and they provide inexpensive goods to consumers.

They are providing crucial services during this difficult economic time.

What's unfortunate is that unions such as the Service Employee International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers, along with enablers on the left, are trying to block the expansion of big boxes, particularly into impoverished areas--which even in the best of times offer few job possibilities for residents.

Democratic state and municipal politicians, flush with union campaign contributions, have worked to erect road blocks against job-creating retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Illinois state Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), a candidate for governor in 2010, has proposed a bill that will prevent municipalities from enacting anti-big box bills.



Brady sums up the issue perfectly:

Municipal leaders who are trying to keep businesses from locating within their corporate boundaries – for whatever reasons – are denying their citizens jobs during a time of high unemployment, limiting much-needed city and state tax revenues, and ignoring quality-of-life concerns in neighborhoods where residents do not have easy access to full-service stores that offer affordable food and household goods.

Related posts:

Bill Brady enters Ill. gov race, pledges not to raise taxes
Daley speaks on his veto of the "big box living wage" ordinance
Ald. Moore: Putting the unions' money where his mouth is
How much is UFCW spending on its Wal-Mart worker airlift?
My book report: The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy
The good life of working for the UFCW
Wal-Mart: Undercover journalist likes what he sees, and fighting "food deserts" Union leaders don't share their members pain
Chicago food desert update: Hyde Park Co-op to close

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