A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 20 20. Illinoisans leave. Nothing captures the dysfunction of Illinois as well as the data on outmigration does. Illinoisans have been fleeing the state in search of a better environment … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 19 19. Property taxes punish. Much of the cost imposed by the failures of Illinois politicians shows up in the yearly property tax bills of Illinoisans across the state. By … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 18 18. Manufacturing jobs collapse. More than 300,000 working and middle class Illinoisans lost their manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2015. Illinois experienced the worst manufacturing jobs recovery since the Great Recession … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 17 17. Student flight. Illinois lost a net of 16,500 university students in 2014 alone, the second most in the country according to the New York Times and the … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 16 16. Tuitions spike. Politicians and university officials had made a crisis of higher education long before Rauner came into office. Too many students were already priced out … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 15 15. Higher ed retirements overwhelm. The university crisis was already in full force by 2014. Students were fleeing the state and tuitions had already jumped, in many … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 4 14. Core services crowded out. By 2015, Illinois was already the extreme outlier nationally when it came to retirement costs and budget crowd out. Those costs consumed more than 20 … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 13 13. Struggling social services. Several nonprofits and social service agencies were already closing their doors during the 2009-2013 period due to the state’s nonpayment of bills. The Urban Institute ranked Illinois the … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 12 12. Too many local bureaucrats. Illinoisans have long been forced to pay for the most units of local government in the country. An excess number of … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: FACT 10 10. University administrative bloat. Illinois’ public universities went on an administrative hiring spree between 2005 and 2015. The number of administrators employed grew by more than 25 percent … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 11 11. Medicaid crowd out. Medicaid costs continued to balloon as the number of Illinoisans enrolled in the program jumped by 60 percent – or more than 1 million people … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 9 9. Downstate pension costs. By 2015, cities across the state were in deep pension crises of their own. Public safety pension promises (accrued liabilities) had grown 6.4 percent annually over … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 8 8. Overpromised pensions. Between 2003 and 2015, Illinois lawmakers allowed total pension benefits (accrued liabilities) to grow at the third-fastest pace in the nation. At 7.5 percent a … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 7 BUDGET DRIVERS Hynes ignored the fact that many of the cost drivers that made the impasse so painful had accelerated to crisis levels long before … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 6 6. Nation’s worst rating. By 2010, Illinois’ credit rating was already the worst in the nation according to Moody’s. And in 2013, S&P declared Illinois was … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 5 5. Credit downgrades. Illinois’ deep credit rating slide began in 2009. The state experienced 13 total credit downgrades from the three major rating agencies from 2009 through 2013, … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 4 4. Retiree health insurance debts. Illinois politicians racked another debt over the past few decades by offering state workers free health insurance in retirement. By 2014, the total … Continue reading
A continuation of the analysis of the current situation in Illinois by WirePoints: Fact 3 3. Pension shortfalls. Illinois’ pension shortfall tripled to over $100 billion in the decade before Rauner took office. That was despite the $17 billion in pension obligation bonds and the 2011-2014 … Continue reading
A continuation of WirePoints analysis of the situation in Illinois: Fact 2 2. Unpaid bills. In 2013, Illinois’ unpaid bills pile had already reached an embarrassingly high $9 billion – 25 percent of the annual budget – despite the record 67 percent income tax hike … Continue reading
Wirepoints has analyzed twenty factors that explain how Illinois got in the mess that exists today. You can read the entire article by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner now or wait and comment on each of the twenty segments, republished … Continue reading
