Blame bad policy, mostly, for Illinois’ more sluggish employment recovery – Opinion – Crain’s*

A deeper dive reveals labor force participation of Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic women without a college degree has fallen drastically. Unfortunately, bad policy could be exacerbating the problem. Illinois’ big priority is to spend $11.6 billion, more than 27 percent of the state’s budget, on public employee pensions. The result is heavy investment in past labor, with little available to invest in the future.