Whether we’re hanging our heads at Chicago’s Olympic fail, shaking our fists at our state’s budget woes or rolling our eyes every time our former governor appears on a talk show, Illinoisans could at least take comfort in the platitude “it could be worse - we could be California.” Not so fast, says a new Pew Study. In a report titled “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril,” Illinois is rated one of the nine states “most like California,” meaning we’re teetering on the brink of fiscal ruination. more ›