by Ashley Muchow The holidays are just around the corner–the smell of turkey and apple pie are in the air. As you begin documenting the expansive list of gifts to get grandma, aunt Carol, or your beloved grandson, consider this: Illinois legislators are considering a bill that would make shopping online for these loved ones...
by Ashley Muchow Steve Malanga’s article in the WSJ today covers a topic that is both timely and closely connected to Illinois’s deteriorating fiscal condition. One measure about to reach the lame-duck Congress floor is a call to extend Build America Bonds (BABs)–bonds used by states and municipalities to accrue nearly $160 billion in new debt...
by Collin Hitt Some big efforts were begun by Ron Huberman during his time as CEO of Chicago Public Schools. The Trib editors encouraged his replacement Terry Mazany to keep shouldering those boulders uphill. I would agree, especially with this one: “There’s a boulder labeled Extending The School Day. Huberman started pilot programs to give...
by Ashley Muchow Using data from the CBO’s 2010 Long-Term Budget Outlook, Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy has charted the long-term path of federal spending on three of its largest components–Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and interest on federal debt. Here’s the kicker: interest costs, if they remain on their current path, are set to become the majority of...
by Ashley Muchow Cook County Board President-elect, Toni Preckwinkle, recently warned county officials they would be responsible for making major spending cuts in their budgets to close the county’s $487 million gap. Preckwinkle met with elected county officials, including Cook County Clerk David Orr, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and Treasurer Maria Pappas, asking each to cut...
Recently, a Burr Ridge resident, Stephen Woodward (pictured), approached the Institute to help him examine transparency shortcomings in the conduct of his local school boards. Woodward periodically attends Hinsdale School District 86, as well as School District 181, board meetings and advocates for many of the measures outlined by the Illinois Policy Institute’s10-Point Transparency Checklist....
by Wesley Fox Senate President John Cullerton announced today that he will form committees to study workers compensation and Medicaid reform, which are initiatives Republicans promoted during the campaign. The committees would advance legislation for a possible vote in January,according to the Sun-Times. Illinois’s workers’ compensation requirements are costly and discourage employers from hiring or even doing business...
President Obama will eventually agree to extend all the tax cuts if the Republicans stand firm and hold out for the full extension for all income levels. Extending the tax cuts helps Obama for his 2012 re-election regardless of how the economy performs. Allowing the tax hikes to go into effect could hurt him badly...
by Kate Piercy A lot of money comes out of union members’ pockets for dues, but how many union members know exactly what those dues are going towards? Are union bosses representing workers’ best interests? Spending reports suggest otherwise, says the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and “As union workers struggle to make their paychecks cover household costs,...
by Wesley Fox Many property taxpayers in Cook County are confused and angry by their property tax bills. While property value assessments are supposedly declining, tax bills are increasing leaving many asking, “Why?” According to one columnist at the Southern Star: I have been writing about the property tax for more than two decades now and still...
The Problem Previous Institute reports have shown how officials within Illinois’s legislative and judicial branches are paid significantly higher than national averages. Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Judges serving on the state’s...
by Ashley Muchow Thanks to the hospitality of Meghan Schmidt, Director of Special Projects at Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS), and Chenita Hardy, Director of CICS-Basil, Amanda Griffin-Johnson, Daniel Anthony, and myself were able to take an eye-opening tour of one of Chicago’s groundbreaking charter schools—CICS-Basil. CICS-Basil is a K-8 charter school located in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood. The...
By Collin Hitt Greg Hinz reports that Mayor Daley has officially named the replacement for the outgoing Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman. The new schools CEO – and probably the last of the Daley administration – is Terry Mazany from the Chicago Community Trust, who will serve in an interim role until the city’s next mayor...
by Kate Piercy Back in July, Gov. Quinn made an amendatory veto to HB5154, which called for the exemption of all public employee performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Illinois Policy Institute argued against this bill, saying it would threaten transparency in government by prohibiting the release of public employee performance reviews...