The two months since the election have been the Land of Lincoln’s best stretch of employment growth in the post-recession era. But the state’s sudden job-creation steam will run out without a healthy fuel of economic-reform policies.
Illinois’ state-government compensation ratio – in other words, what state employees are paid relative to the state’s private-sector workers – is two-thirds higher than the national average.
For Illinois’ downstate communities that have felt the pain of out-migration and need to revitalize their industrial base, a local Right-to-Work ordinance can be their first step to a comeback.
Among the changes is a new posting requirement that provides only a one-hour notice before a committee hearing, diminishing transparency and accountability.
Utah passed a 401(k)-style reform plan in 2011. The state’s pension funds had a 50 percent chance of becoming insolvent by 2028 prior to the state’s reform plan – but the reform dropped that chance to 10 percent.
Illinois’ economy is floundering, and conditions will get worse without decisive action.
An encouraging December helped pull the Land of Lincoln out of last place in the Midwest for 2014 jobs growth.