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.
Governor Bruce Rauner Inaugural Speech
Governor Bruce Rauner Inaugural Speech
A transcript of Governor Bruce Rauner's Inauguration speech on January 12, 2014.
Illinois could save up to $1.2B through local revenue-sharing adjustments.
Illinois could save up to $1.2B through local revenue-sharing adjustments.
As the state faces its most pressing budget crisis ever, it is time to rethink how much of its income-tax revenue it can afford to pass back to local governments.
Medline Industries has received $39.3M in tax credits in last 15 years
Medline Industries has received $39.3M in tax credits in last 15 years
A case study on the insider’s game of EDGE tax credits
Illinoisans will receive income-tax relief in 2015
Illinoisans will receive income-tax relief in 2015
With a lame-duck session dead in the water, the 2011 income-tax hikes will sunset on schedule; a minimum-wage debate will wait until Rauner takes office; and taxpayers will not be on the hook for a state-funded health insurance exchange.
Budgeting for tax relief: Rauner taking right first steps
Budgeting for tax relief: Rauner taking right first steps
The governor-elect has shown wisdom in his first steps to address budget challenges. Illinoisans should hope the trend continues once Rauner takes office.
It’s time for taxpayers to stop paying for the Ex-Im Bank
It’s time for taxpayers to stop paying for the Ex-Im Bank
The average American pays $6,000 in subsidies to corporations every year, but that gigantic chunk of taxpayer change simply is not enough for some special interests.
Illinois among states with highest income-tax burden on the poor
Illinois among states with highest income-tax burden on the poor
Illinois has the highest income taxes on the poor of almost any state in the country, but the solution is not simply to raise taxes on the wealthy, as some constantly push for in Illinois.