These shocking statistics explain why Illinois is drowning in debt

Illinois is $15 billion in debt and trying to borrow more money to get out of the hole. The state has been threatened with a downgrade to junk bond status by credit rating agencies after two years of spending without a state budget.

Glenn Beck explained why Illinois is in trouble and listed some of the state’s examples of reckless government spending on Wednesday’s “The Glenn Beck Radio Program.”

OpenTheBooks.com has revealed the state’s lavish expenditures. Illinois has 63,000 government employees who are getting six-figure and higher salaries each year. A nurse in a state prison can earn more than $250,000 annually, while junior college presidents make $465,000 a year. City managers in the state out-earn every U.S. governor, and Illinois has 20,295 teachers and school administrators whose salaries are in the six-figure range.

“If you’re a barber in the prison, you make $100,000,” Glenn said.

“Well, I mean, I’m sure they give really special haircuts,” Pat Gray pointed out jokingly.

Overtime is a huge expense for the Prairie State. In 2016, Chicago alone paid $283 million in overtime to 1,000 employees making around $40,000 each on top of their salaries. Altogether, Illinois directs around $12 billion in cash compensation to six-figure government workers, including federal employees, according to Open the Books.

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Glenn Beck Radio Program” with Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeffy Fisher weekdays 9 a.m.–noon ET on TheBlaze Radio Network.