There's really not much pressure for states to adopt best practices. I work at a tax policy think tank, and a lot of the most populous and richest states also have some of the most poorly constructed tax code (e.g., CA's Prop 13). They can get away with it because people want to live and work there regardless. The network effects of established urban areas--especially with specialized industries like Silicon Valley has--are difficult to overcome.
I certainly don’t dispute your assessment there, as an IL resident. In quieter areas where regulators have more ability to make changes without making newspaper headlines, and a larger portion of a department’s scope can be covered at a specialized conference, don’t better practices spread a little more quickly?
