“Not to defend Illinois, but even without a budget, a $7.8 BILLION deficit and $13.00 minimum wage, business is booming.”
Yes, but the warehouse type jobs are not what a failing Illinois economy needs.
Jobs + Growth / Article
December 15, 2016
Illinois’ uncompetitive workers’ compensation system doesn’t just hurt private sector businesses – it is also costing taxpayers more than $400 million per year.
When it comes to workers’ compensation costs, Illinois’ political and business leaders focus primarily on how the system affects private sector businesses, which pay the highest workers’ compensation costs in the Midwest.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/broken-workers-compensation-system-costs-illinois-taxpayers-millions/
Three reasons AFSCME has so much power over Illinois taxpayers
Mailee Smith, Illinois Policy Institute Nov. 28, 2016, 9:12am
Imagine an employer knowingly paying an employee to do work that will undermine the employer. What’s more, that employee is allowed to spend company time complaining publicly about the employer.
December 05, 2016
What’s the real reason government pensions are suffering?
Comments Email Print
Greg Hinz on Politics
Though state and local government pension woes often get blamed on high benefits and low contribution rates, there’s another factor, neatly highlighted by figures released today from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas: demographics, particularly the impact of an aging workforce.
According to the data Pappas shared at a City Club speech today, 130 of the county’s 549 taxing districts—schools, villages, cities and the like—have more retirees drawing benefits than current workers putting money in. And the ratio of workers to retirees is headed in the wrong direction.
“People always stop me and ask why their taxes are going up. This is the answer,” at least in part, said Pappas. As the ratio of workers to retirees declines, the way to balance the books is to get more money from taxpayers or cut back on what the old folks get.
Pappas developed the data from annual reports that each taxing body is required to give her, per a county ordinance.
Some of the figures are absolutely frightening.
For instance, dozens of villages and school districts in relatively prosperous areas such as Orland Park, Glenview, Oak Park and Arlington Height now have lots more people taking out than paying in, a trend that generally is only partially handled with proceeds from past investments by pension funds. Retiree-to-worker ratios of 2-to-1 or even 3-to-1 are not uncommon.
Real estate forecast for Chicagoland home prices, sales worst out of 100 metro areas
Illinois Business Daily Reports | Dec 6, 2016
Illinois remains most expensive state in Midwest for workers’ compensation
By Michael Lucci
Chapters
1: Background
2: Changing costs over time
3: Findings from 2014 and 2016 Oregon studies
4: Conclusions and solutions
5: Endnotes
The regulatory cost of doing business in Illinois remains the highest in the Midwest for workers’ compensation, according to the 2016 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking study.[1] Illinois’ out-of-balance workers’ compensation laws contribute to the Land of Lincoln’s loss of industrial investment and blue-collar job opportunities. Illinois manufacturing firms often cite workers’ compensation as a primary reason for the loss of rewarding industrial job opportunities in Illinois.[2] And taxpayers cover the cost of workers’ compensation for government employees and for workers on public construction projects, making workers’ compensation an important government budgetary issue.
Key Largo - I totally agree with your numbers and observations, that is why all of the business expansion in Illinois defies logic.
Warehouse and distribution is still classified as Industrial Space.
In 2015-16 Illinois - Mostly on the I-80 &55 corridor, 87 new companies moved in from other states.
In 2016, Q2 &3 = 17.3 Million square feet of industrial buildings being developed.
The old Joliet Arsenal Property is nearly full due to the growth of the BNSF Inter-modal.
Wilmington, Elwood and Joliet are adding 1000’s of new jobs to staff the building boom.
It is crazy and does not make any sense, but it is the reality of what is going on with business growth in Illinois.