As Illinois fully reopened for business with Phase 5 yesterday, the state’s economy had significantly fewer businesses than prior to the pandemic. Compared to highs in January 2020, Illinois had 39 percent fewer businesses this May, according to data from the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, a project of Harvard University. The biggest losses are in the food and accommodations sectors, where the number of small businesses that remained open fell by nearly 53 percent, the Illinois Policy Institute finds. The leisure and hospitality sector saw a 52 percent decline in the number of surviving small businesses. For the retail sector, the number of small businesses fell by nearly 39 percent. Unfortunately for those Illinoisans still out of work, the General Assembly passed a fiscal year 2022 budget that includes four of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nine new tax hikes, including ones that would reduce investment and hurt job creation efforts by removing key tax incentives and deductions.