With an abundance of freight lines and roadways, along with a reliable power grid, Illinois placed No. 1 in the U.S. for infrastructure. But state finances are a threat, and political pork needs to give way to projects that move the most people and goods.
Some parts of Illinois’ job markets are recovering, but not for Black Illinoisans. Many jobs are still missing from before COVID-19, including over one-third of the leisure and hospitality jobs.
A Board of Review employee claims corruption is rampant in his Cook County office after an FBI affidavit states he was charging $2,000 to lower assessment on commercial properties and $1,000 for homes.
New census data shows Illinois ranked 48th in the U.S. for new single-family home permits during the past decade.
Illinoisans pay one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation when local and state sales taxes are averaged. The average rate of 8.83% was up slightly from a year earlier.
A former Chicago Public Schools principal convinced her employees to falsely charge for overtime and give her the money, claiming it would go for school expenses. Charges state she instead paid her mortgage.
Illinois employers are hurting from a lack of workers while the state unemployment rate remains high. When a parent can stay home and make $51,627 on unemployment, the prospects of getting more workers back to work this summer appear dim.
The Chicago Teachers Union issued a long list of demands it wants before allowing in-person learning this fall. Union leaders seek over 4,000 new employees, including a “restorative justice coordinator” in each of Chicago’s 638 schools.
Criticizing the ethics reform measures recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative inspector general called her job a “paper tiger” lacking the independence required to hold lawmakers accountable.
A Volcker Alliance report on truth and integrity in state budgeting finds Illinois lacking. Debt, budget gimmicks and thin reserve funds gave the state poor marks.
“One mom with a child with autism spoke up at the board meeting and said, ‘Instead of my child getting adequate speech services that he desperately needs, he has been taught how to put on a mask, how to wear a mask, how to keep his mask on his face.’"
The first step of passing a budget is to determine how much is available to spend. Illinois routinely misses the mark in estimating future revenues. There is a solution.