As thousands of families throughout Chicago watched anxiously, the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement turned melodramatic at a Chicago Teachers Union Labor Day rally. CTU President Karen Lewis called Mayor Rahm Emanuel “a liar and a bully”, while teachers and representatives of several other unions chanted “enough is enough” and other slogans intended...
The U.S. Treasury Department released a statement on Tuesday, confirming that the federal government has topped $16,000,000,000,000 in debt. (That’s $16 trillion, if you lost count of all the zeros). When combined with state level debt ($4.19 trillion), the number tops $20 trillion in total public debt. At the end of 2008, just before President Obama officially...
A letter to the editor from Illinois Policy Institute's Director of Government Reform, Brian Costin, on issue of local government transparency in Lee County.
As Illinois motorists hit the road for Labor Day weekend, they’ll shell out an average of $4.14 for a gallon of gas. In Chicago, motorists are paying $4.31 a gallon, according to the AAA. That’s a whopping 48 cents more than the national average at $3.83 a gallon. At these prices, motorists in Chicago are paying...
S&P’s latest downgrade should come as no surprise. It’s just another mark of shame for a leaderless state spiraling out of control. The downgrade was a reaction to the state’s August 17th failure to reform its pension problems. In that meeting, the only bill on the table reduced Illinois’ total pension debt by less than...
THE PROBLEM Government employee unions have become a persistent obstacle to reforming government in Illinois. At every level, and on a wide range of issues, union officials work to prevent changes that are desperately needed. In Chicago, the teachers union is has threatened a strike to prevent teachers from working a longer day. Meanwhile in...
The Chicago Teachers Union filed a 10-day strike notice Wednesday, which may tempt some Chicagoans to overreact. To some extent the teachers union is counting on this sort of reaction. They are hoping that upset parents will call on the school board to end the strike at all costs, and pressure the district into making...
New report details Illinois
Illinois reports that it owes $83 billion to its five public pension funds. Worse yet, under new reporting requirements by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and Moody’s Investment Services, the state’s pension debt will more than double. There are a lot of numbers being thrown around in the fight over pension reform. But these are the...
This time the alleged corruption comes from West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147. Retired superintendent, Alex Boyd, is accused of,“fraudulently cashing out about $350,000 worth of sick and vacation time and racking up $57,000 in unauthorized credit card charges.” Also, board member Mable Chapman is accused of, “helping Boyd bilk the district while having family members hired by...
The national food stamp program was originally designed to provide nutritional foods for folks who can
A coalition of progressive groups is beginning to coalesce around a proposal to create a progressive income tax in Illinois. Under their plan state income tax rates will increase as one reaches higher incomes, up to a top rate of 11 percent for incomes over $1 million. This plan would leave Illinois with one of...
Illinois’ July unemployment rate hit 8.9 percent, up from 8.7 percent in June, the second consecutive monthly increase. Thirty-nine states have a lower unemployment rate than Illinois. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois’ labor force is roughly 6.5 million people. More than half a million of them are unemployed. This is a...
Maryland stands to lose big if the government steps in to save state pension systems