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.
State workers’ health-insurance benefits make up $3 billion of the state’s budget.
The cost of debt service in fiscal year 2015 is nearly $4 billion, 11 percent of Illinois' anticipated revenues.
Gov. Bruce Rauner's State of the State Address. February 4, 2015
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’ 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.
Revenues will not solve the problem. Illinois lawmakers need to look at spending.
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.
A transcript of Governor Bruce Rauner's Inauguration speech on January 12, 2014.
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.
A case study on the insider’s game of EDGE tax credits
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.
The governor-elect has shown wisdom in his first steps to address budget challenges. Illinoisans should hope the trend continues once Rauner takes office.
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.