After yesterday’s Brief, we now turn our attention to another state budget impasse and its similarities to Pennsylvania.
Another article notes that “…in Pennsylvania and Illinois, court rulings have kept government largely open even without a budget.” The Census Bureau’s 2012 state and local government census has data on state government employment and payroll and shows that Pennsylvania has about 20% more full-time equivalent employees than Illinois.
With populations very close in count (12.8 million in Illinois, 12.7 million in PA) the FTE per 100,000 people results in 101 per 100k in Illinois, 123 per 100k in Pennsylvania. Both of those workforces are largely uninterrupted by the respective impasses.
