U.S. states collectively held a record $74.9 billion in rainy-day funds at the end of fiscal 2019, the ninth-straight year of increases, according to the latest data from The Pew Charitable Trusts. States theoretically could run operations for a record median 27.9 days with those savings while Illinois has enough for less than one day.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.