Ready for yet more bad news concerning Illinois' budget deadlock? Well, here it comes.
In addition to embarrassing us before the rest of the country, in addition to failing increasingly to serve even our neediest fellow citizens, the budget crisis is retarding our recovery from the Great Recession. Other states are bouncing back. We're just bouncing around.
Governing magazine reports on the economic performance of the states. Unsurprisingly, Illinois is not rated very favorably. Why not? Part of the answer comes from an article in Business Week. Increased spending by state and local governments is boosting the national economy, as well as spurring significant economic growth in the states.
State and local governments account for over 60% of all government spending, and their spending increases are spurring what would otherwise be anemic overall economic performance. State and local governments, not to put too fine a point on it, are performing the valuable function of spurring economic growth.
But not in Illinois. In Illinois people are being furloughed. Doors are closing. Services needed to help people get and keep jobs are being interrupted. So what we have is a burgeoning crisis and disaster of the most complete nature imaginable. In addition to all the other harm we are inflicting on ourselves, we are actually contracting our own economy.
I'm Bob Evans, and that is my perspective.
