State Representative Travis Weaver (R-Edwards) said on the House floor today that he was recently given a copy of a book called “Rich States, Poor States” written by economist Aurthur Laffer which raises increasingly alarming statistics about the state of Illinois. In his book, Laffer writes that each state, based on their economic outlook, finds Illinois ranking 45th. Despite Illinois’ incredible resources and potential, our economic outlook is the 6th worse in all 50 states.
Weaver said that from the bottom of his heart, his comments are not meant to indict anyone in the chamber because we are fighting a lot of bad decisions made in prior years and decades. But, he went on to say, as leadership makes the final budget decisions, this reality is a great reminder for all of us.