SPRINGFIELD – Illinois' legislature has been controlled by "progressives" for decades, and that's about how long it has taken for the Land of Lincoln to become the state with the nation's worst financial stability, a US News "Best States" study shows. As to quality of life, Illinois ranks 47 – just above Indiana (48), New Jersey (49) and the worst in the US, California (50).
Overall, the US News study ranks Illinois at #35 – a bit higher, due to the quality of health care, education, infrastructure and rankings that cost taxpayers a sizable portion of their income.
Each Illinois taxpayer has a burden of $50,400, and received an "F" from the financial assessment group Truth in Accounting. Illinois is a "Sinkhole State" without enough assets to cover its debt. The state's reported pension debt grew from $108.7 billion in 2015 to $116.8 billion in 2016.
"At a time when the federal government is attempting to hand more responsibility for spending and policymaking to the states, these rankings offer the first comprehensive view, state by state, of how some states already are performing best," the US News piece says.
If that's the case, just how much will the federal government trust into the hands of Illinois lawmakers with a dead-last ranking with the taxes – state, federal and local – with which they've been entrusted for years?
