Illinoisans pay high taxes compared to other Midwest families
Illinoisans pay high taxes compared to other Midwest families
The typical Illinois family pays the third-highest effective tax rate in the region.
Rauner budget would keep funding steady for more than a third of state agencies
Rauner budget would keep funding steady for more than a third of state agencies
Total proposed appropriations for more than one-third of state agencies – 37 departments out of nearly 100 – would change by 5 percent or less.
Rauner details landmark budget
Rauner details landmark budget
One of the biggest wins in this proposal is that the governor did not propose tax increases or borrowing.
Full text: Gov. Rauner’s budget address
Full text: Gov. Rauner’s budget address
Transcript, provided by Gov. Bruce Rauner's office, of his first budget address, as prepared for delivery, to the General Assembly.
Proposed fiscal year 2016 budget
Proposed fiscal year 2016 budget
Gov. Rauner’s Budget Address Operating Book (PDF) Capital Budget (PDF) Capital Projects List (xls) Operating Budget Detail (xls) Operating Budget Detail Data Description (PDF) Operating Budgeting for Results Detail (xls) Operating Performance Measures Detail (xls)
Budget Solutions 2016
Budget Solutions 2016
It’s the time for a comeback – one that is spurred by pro-growth policy reforms.
State-employee health benefits: Avoiding the ObamaCare ‘Cadillac tax’
State-employee health benefits: Avoiding the ObamaCare ‘Cadillac tax’
Illinois government should restructure its health-insurance offerings to be more in line with what is offered in the private sector, and in a way that does not trigger the federal tax penalty.
Budget Solutions 2016: State-employee health insurance: Opportunities for reform
Budget Solutions 2016: State-employee health insurance: Opportunities for reform
State workers’ health-insurance benefits make up $3 billion of the state’s budget.
Budget Solutions 2016: Debt service on state bonds diverts billions from essential programs
Budget Solutions 2016: Debt service on state bonds diverts billions from essential programs
The cost of debt service in fiscal year 2015 is nearly $4 billion, 11 percent of Illinois' anticipated revenues.
Full text: Gov. Rauner’s State of the State address
Full text: Gov. Rauner’s State of the State address
Gov. Bruce Rauner's State of the State Address. February 4, 2015
State of the state: What every Illinoisan should know about the social safety net
State of the state: What every Illinoisan should know about the social safety net
The state’s complex and duplicative social-welfare system is punishing many of those who seek to move up the ladder of economic opportunity.
Illinois government employees take home inflated pay
Illinois government employees take home inflated pay
Illinois’ state-government compensation ratio – in other words, what state employees are paid relative to the state’s private-sector workers – is two-thirds higher than the national average.
Report prescribes expired medicine for state’s fiscal sickness
Report prescribes expired medicine for state’s fiscal sickness
Revenues will not solve the problem. Illinois lawmakers need to look at spending.
How Illinois’ economic development agency flouts the law in plain sight
How Illinois’ economic development agency flouts the law in plain sight
The DCEO’s decision to play by its own rules deserves scrutiny not only because of its monetary cost, but because it involves a fiduciary failure symptomatic of governmental disregard for the rule of law. It exemplifies a political culture that must change if Illinois government is to turn the corner and move toward restoration and renewal.