Voters reject school facility sales tax hikes in 11 counties
Voters reject school facility sales tax hikes in 11 counties
Counties across Illinois reject school facility sales tax hikes.
Not again – Illinois lawmakers attempt to borrow their way out of debt
Not again – Illinois lawmakers attempt to borrow their way out of debt
Lawmakers have not earned the right to borrow billions more. They were unable to pay down the states massive backlog of bills with a $7 billion tax hike how does anyone think theyll be able to do it with $2.5 billion in borrowing?
Pension funds expected rates of return: Biggest lie in global finance
Pension funds expected rates of return: Biggest lie in global finance
For governments like the ones in Stockton and Illinois, government worker pension plans need ambitious investment returns of nearly 8 percent year in and year out to fund the overly generous benefits officials have handed out
The cost of bad behavior: Illinois penalty borrowing rate
The cost of bad behavior: Illinois penalty borrowing rate
The price of Illinois bad behavior continues to go up.
Institute on WJPF Radio: Tom Miller and John Tillman discuss pension reform
Institute on WJPF Radio: Tom Miller and John Tillman discuss pension reform
Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman joined Tom Miller on WJPF Radio to discuss pension reform in Illinois.
Lessons from Puerto Rico: the problem with big pension debts and little solutions
Lessons from Puerto Rico: the problem with big pension debts and little solutions
Too bad Puerto Rico isnt a state. If it were, Puerto Rico, and not Illinois, would have the nations worst-funded pension system and the countrys worst credit rating.
IEA holds training sessions to increase taxes on teachers?
IEA holds training sessions to increase taxes on teachers?
The Illinois Education Association, or IEA, is training its members to advocate for a plan that, ironically, increases taxes on teachers.
Institute in Chicago Tribune: Amazon tax an Illinois disaster
Institute in Chicago Tribune: Amazon tax an Illinois disaster
To tax-hungry politicians, the Internet is like California in 1849 a vast expanse of untapped wealth.
The Stockton crystal ball: what a pension guarantee will do to Illinois
The Stockton crystal ball: what a pension guarantee will do to Illinois
With nearly 300,000 residents, Stockton is the largest city in the United States to declare bankruptcy. It is also one of several California cities to file for bankruptcy due to the recession and skyrocketing government worker pension costs.
Institute in Chicago Tribune: Modernizing Illinois’ tax system
Institute in Chicago Tribune: Modernizing Illinois’ tax system
The Chicago Tribune published the following letter to the editor from the Institute's senior budget and tax analyst, Ben VanMetre.
137 tax increases proposed in 62 Illinois counties
137 tax increases proposed in 62 Illinois counties
AFP-Illinois, the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, is gearing up for the April 9 consolidated local elections. The group recently launched a new website designed to inform Illinois residents of local referendums that could cause their taxes to go up and are urging people to fight local tax hikes. In a recent newsletter announcing the initiative for...
Pension ramp leaves taxpayers without an exit
Pension ramp leaves taxpayers without an exit
On March 11, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Illinois with securities fraud. The SEC accused the state of misleading investors by understating the depth of the pension crisis. The most revealing statement from the SEC: “The statutory plan structurally underfunded the state’s pension obligations and backloaded the majority of pension contributions far into...
SEC charges Illinois with securities fraud
SEC charges Illinois with securities fraud
[updated 3.15.13] Illinois politicians are not honest about the depth of the state’s pension crisis. They chronically understate the scale of the problem to taxpayers and state workers. According to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the state has misled investors as well. Today the SEC announced it was charging Illinois with securities fraud. From a...
HB 3411 makes Illinois’ already-broken pension system worse
HB 3411 makes Illinois’ already-broken pension system worse
HB 3411 known as Cross-Nekritz – the latest iteration of Nekritz-Biss – paints over Illinois’ pension crisis with more of the same broken policies that have pushed government retirement systems to the edge of collapse. This bill: Perpetuates unstable, unpredictable and unmanageable defined benefit systems – The key driver of Illinois’ pension crisis is the state’s defined...