IRS data show the average income of taxpayers leaving Illinois surpassed the average income of taxpayers entering the state by $20,000 in 2014, a record loss for Illinois in the wake of the 2011 income-tax hike.

Illinois is one of only eight states that do not enforce food-stamp work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. But reinstating work requirements would benefit Illinois food-stamp enrollees as well as state and local economies.

The need for foundational change couldn’t be more evident in the Land of Lincoln.

Although Illinois’ top earners make more than most of their regional counterparts, Illinois’ bottom quarter of earners have the lowest wages in the Midwest