State licenses

Ah, for the good old days. When you were out of work the BA called around and located a powerhouse job for you. Then you showed up at the hall and the BA referred you out to work. No questions about "licenses", either.
Today that yellow ticket plays a backseat to a state issued license. Now if your local is in a state like Indiana or Illinois that doesn't issue liceneses that allows everyone to work in those states as a traveler, but the poor Hoosier electrician is out of luck when he goes to sign the book in a state with licensing. With the downturn in work everyone wants to protect their work and state licenses do just that.

Two year wait for a job in Chicago

I just read a comment on another forum that in Chicago, book one signers are told to expect a TWO YEAR wait for a job! It could be expected that most guys will go bankrupt waiting for that job call. Does the IBEW have a plan to get it's members back to work before that happens?