Rockford Sun

Runaway gas prices in Illinois are now spilling over into other sectors, with one local small business owner lamenting he now “spends more in gas than I bring home.”

“The prices are not really good in Illinois,” a construction business owner from Rochelle said. “Really high. I work in Indy, and in Minnesota…the prices are better there than Illinois. It’s really bad. I work in construction, so I need drivers. And I’m now [operating at a loss]. I spend more in gas than I bring home.”

Across the country over the last two weeks even as the national gas price average fell to $4.327 per gallon, prices remained 37% higher than they were a year ago. After hitting record high national prices in June, AAA.com reports demand in the first week of July fell off by 9.7% to 8.73 million barrels per day.

According to NBC Chicago, in Illinois, motorists continue to be handcuffed by prices that remain high despite the state having seen a 7.5% decrease in cost compared to a nationwide decrease of 6.5% over the month of July.

According to the Journal Star, one of the reasons why prices have continued to trend the way they have in Illinois stems from lawmakers in Springfield raising the state gas tax in 2021, now making Illinois home to the second highest gas taxes in the country at 78 cents before any local taxes.

In addition, based on its EPA standards, drivers in Illinois must burn a cleaner blend of gasoline throughout the summer months.

“Absurd. Ridiculous. Way too high right now,” driver Mike Koolidge of People Who Play by the Rules told Center for IllinoisPolitics.org. “I don’t even commute every day, and still. Really bad, and it affects me. Imagine people who commute every day.”