Simple reason why the Toyota-Mazda plant won't be in Illinois

1997 Toyota Celica

Illinois is among eleven states reportedly under consideration for a massive Toyota-Mazda plant that will employ 4,000 people.

Here's that rundown, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News:

Besides Texas — Toyota’s new North American headquarters — other states on the companies' shortlist are Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, The [Wall Street] Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the potential investment. Those sources also said the manufacturing facility would require at least 1,000 acres of land.

Except for Illinois, these states have one thing in common--they are right-to-work states, meaning "closed shop" union workplaces are banned.

There are no fully-unionized foreign automobile plants in the United States. There was one, a Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois--the United Auto Workers were put in place because the facility was originally a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler. It closed in 2015.

There are 28 right-to-work states--that number is growing. Every state that borders Illinois--as well as Michigan--are right-to-work places.

Illinois represents the past. And the Toyota-Mazda plant won't be in Illinois.

You heard it here first.

As if forced-unionization wasn't enough, Illinois has other serious drawbacks such as high personal and corporate income tax rates--some states don't even have state income taxes--as well as runaway pension debt, topped off by a dysfunctional state government exemplified by Boss Michael Madigan of Chicago, the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and the longest serving state House speaker in history.