Relatively stringent lockdown in Illinois, compared with Iowa, has created shift in spending and potential long-term consequences

See Tale of Quad Cities: Different Reopening Policies Split Economy of Border Communities by Doug Cameron of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Pryce Boeye’s Hungry Hobo sandwich shops’ sales on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River have been booming since the state reopened dining rooms in mid-May, while those he owns in still-closed Illinois languish.

The pattern is repeated across the Quad Cities, a river-straddling metro area of around 420,000 that includes Scott and Muscatine counties on the Iowa side, as well as Rock Island and Henry counties in Illinois. The contrasting state reopening policies have created two tracks in what had been a unified economy before the coronavirus pandemic.

The scene is playing out in other border communities around the country where workers and shoppers regularly cross state lines. The relatively stringent lockdown regime in Illinois compared with Iowa has created a clear shift in current spending patterns and potential longer-term consequences.

“You go to any gas station or restaurant, and it is absolutely filled with Illinois license plates,” said Mr. Boeye. Sales at his six sandwich shops in Iowa are up 24% year over year after dining rooms were reopened at 50% capacity, and he has hired back furloughed staff. Takings at the six Illinois stores are down 7%."

"The chamber estimates that the once-even split in payment of sales taxes between the states is now more like 65% in favor of Iowa. The number of businesses still closed on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities is almost twice that in Iowa, according to employee-scheduling specialist Homebase."