After 90 years with HQ in Illinois, Caterpillar moving it to Texas

Caterpillar plant, Peoria Heights, in 2010

Last month Boeing announced that it's moving its headquarters to Virgina. Now Caterpillar, which has had its headquarters in Illinois since 1930, announced transferring its HQ to Texas.

ILL-inois just leaves a bad taste in many people's mouths. The Prairie State's reputation for rampant corruption and high taxes goes back decades, now Illinois is notorious for out-of-control crime and unsustainable public-pension worker debt--both at the state and local level.

One day we'll leave. Hopefully soon.

From the Peoria Journal-Star:

Caterpillar Inc. announced plans Tuesday to move its global headquarters from Deerfield, Ill., to the company's existing office in Irving, Texas.

"We believe it's in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar's strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.

Caterpillar has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, the company said in the news release. Illinois retains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world, with 12,000 in the Peoria region alone as of 2018.

But those central Illinois Cat jobs will slowly trickle down to Texas. I've seen this movie before. Texas has a business-friendly government, gasoline sells a buck less down there, and there is no state income tax.