After 78 years headquartered in Chicago, True Value is packing up and moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

That's how bad Illinois has gotten. The greener pasture is literally next door.

Illinois State Senator Chris Balkema, a Republican from Channahon, told The Center Square the move highlights what every business owner in the state already knows. "True Value making a business decision not to move across the country, but to move one state over to our friends to the east, Indiana, is really telling," Balkema said.

Telling is one word for it. Damning is another.

Balkema pointed to the state's regulatory burden as the primary driver. "Rules and regulations is absolutely the number one," he said. He singled out the CEJA Act, which requires all gas and coal-fired power plants in Illinois to be shut down within 19 years, forcing the state to transition to carbon-free electricity by 2045. Businesses planning long-term investments tend to notice when the state is planning to dismantle the energy infrastructure they depend on.

Then there's the cost gap. "Workers' compensation costs in Illinois are about twice what they are in Indiana," Balkema said. Twice. For the same work, the same injuries, the same claims process — Illinois charges double. That's not a rounding error. That's a competitive disadvantage baked into every payroll cycle.

"They just want relief," Balkema said of businesses considering a move. "It's really the absence of the offense that a lot of states other than Illinois are using to attract businesses." In other words, Indiana isn't rolling out some elaborate incentive package. It's just not punishing companies for making money. That's enough.

Springfield will presumably respond the way it always does — blame the company, insist the business climate is fine, and then quietly raise taxes on whoever's still left to cover the revenue gap. The playbook hasn't changed in decades. Neither have the results.

"Right now, Illinois has very little reason for folks to feel welcome here that are responsible for a profit and loss statement," Balkema said. That's an elected official from the state itself saying the quiet part out loud.

Balkema also noted that "companies gravitate towards the states that are friendly to them." He said he was happy for True Value but understood the decision completely. "I'm happy that that is occurring, but I also understand it," he said. When your own legislators are rooting for companies to escape, the business climate isn't broken. It's functioning exactly as designed — it's just designed to drive people out.

Seventy-eight years. That's how long True Value stayed. Through recessions, through industry upheaval, through the complete transformation of the hardware retail market. What finally made it untenable wasn't a market shift or a competitor. It was the state government.

Indiana didn't have to offer anything special. It just had to not be Illinois.