* Rick Pearson at the Tribune…

Out-migration of residents from Illinois has accelerated in recent years, but is part of a near century-old trend that has not hurt the state’s economic growth, Fitch Ratings Inc. said in a report released Monday. […]

The issue of people leaving Illinois became part of the campaign that saw Democrat J.B. Pritzker defeat one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Rauner contended taxes pushed by Democrats, including Pritzker’s call for a graduated-rate income tax to replace the state’s mandated flat-rate tax, would further an exodus of residents.

The report said since 2010, 400,000 more people left Illinois for other parts of the country than located within the state from other parts of the United States.

“This domestic net out-migration trend has accelerated in recent years, though it continues a nearly century-old trend. Illinois’ net domestic migration rate based on annual (federal) Census population estimates has almost doubled from an annual loss of five people per 1,000 residents in 2011 to nearly nine people per 1,000 residents in 2017,” the report said.

Still, Fitch said even with the recent acceleration in out-migration, it is a “long-established phenomenon that has not prevented the state’s economy from continuing a long pattern of overall growth.” The report said one research study that compiled migration data going to 1900 said the state has seen “virtually uninterrupted” out-migration since the mid-1920s with rates in the late 1970s and early 1980s comparable to what Illinois is currently seeing.

* The Illinois News Network’s story had a different focus…

A credit-rating agency used a post-election report to reminded Illinois Democrats poised to retake control of state government about the party’s track record of “poor fiscal decisions.”

Fitch Ratings already had a negative outlook for Illinois’ credit, which is a notch above junk status. In report released Monday, the agency noted that the “return of single-party control to Springfield does not signal an end to the state’s credit challenges.”

It noted a laundry list of mistakes Democrats made last time and the ongoing cost of some of those decisions.

“Between 2003 and 2014, the state operated under single-party control with two different Democratic governors and sizable Democratic majorities in the General Assembly,” the report said. “Over that span, the state’s credit quality deteriorated considerably. In that 11-year span, Illinois made various poor fiscal decisions.”

* The full report also noted this…

The state of Illinois’ ‘BBB’ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) reflects an ongoing pattern of weak operating performance and irresolute fiscal decision-making. […]

Under Fitch’s “U.S. Public Finance Tax- Supported Rating Criteria,” the assessments of three of Illinois’ four key rating drivers (revenue framework, expenditure framework and long-term liability burden) imply an IDR at least in the ‘A’ category, if not for the operating performance weakness. […]

Significant governance weakness primarily distinguishes Illinois from even those other U.S. states with similarly sized long-term liability burdens. Absent the governance concerns, Illinois’ fundamental credit profile implies a rating at least one category above the current IDR.

The accompanying chart…

In other words, better fiscal stewardship at the top could lift the state’s credit rating.