How to get your Illinois driver’s license on your phone
How to get your Illinois driver’s license on your phone
Legislation allowing Illinois residents to carry a digital driver’s license or ID on their smartphone will take effect in 2025.
Vallas: Chicago has too few police, pays too much in police overtime
Vallas: Chicago has too few police, pays too much in police overtime
Chicago's violent crime is up. A record $300 million was spent on police overtime last year. It's simple: too few cops leads to too much crime and requires a very wasteful, inefficient fix. Chicago needs more officers on patrol.
Illinois 1 of 3 states banning fireworks freedom
Illinois 1 of 3 states banning fireworks freedom
State lawmakers are no closer to trusting Illinoisans with fireworks to celebrate Independence Day. Forty-seven other states give their residents that freedom.
2024 NASCAR ticket price up to $270 higher thanks to Chicago tax
2024 NASCAR ticket price up to $270 higher thanks to Chicago tax
The typical racing fan will pay an extra $22 for general admission to Chicago’s NASCAR “Street Race Weekend” thanks to the city’s amusement tax. Luxury seating could cost residents more than the price of a standard ticket in taxes alone.
Chicago Teachers Union demands include 45 days off, 9 new ways to take off
Chicago Teachers Union demands include 45 days off, 9 new ways to take off
The Chicago Teachers Union contract already provides 43 days off each year to teachers during the school year, but CTU is seeking at least two more days outside of the classroom. Its demands also include nine additional or expanded types of leave.
The Policy Shop: Cut bureaucracy, build homes
The Policy Shop: Cut bureaucracy, build homes
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Fiscal and Economic Research Bryce Hill. The Illinois Policy Institute was very clear about just how wrong Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was to push a hike in the real estate transfer tax to generate $100 million to address homelessness and affordable housing. Bad idea, with great potential...
Read all the Chicago Teachers Union’s contract demands
Read all the Chicago Teachers Union’s contract demands
The Chicago Teachers Union's lengthy list of demands includes base raises and experience compensation each year, housing help, climate justice, more compensation added to pension calculations and a pool of health care funds targeted to racial disparities.
The Policy Shop: Why 911 doesn’t respond in Chicago
The Policy Shop: Why 911 doesn’t respond in Chicago
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a lot of plans to change the social order, but what he doesn’t have is a plan for how to stanch the city’s literal or figurative bleeding. Without law and order, people and businesses will continue to flee: 32,990 people in 2022, plus major businesses over crime and taxes. Chicago’s...
The Policy Shop: Why Springfield should save the Invest in Kids Act
The Policy Shop: Why Springfield should save the Invest in Kids Act
This edition of The Policy Shop is by policy analyst Hannah Schmid. On Tuesday the Illinois General Assembly will begin the fall veto session, when they have a chance to override the vetoes issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker plus put other bills in motion. The best use of their time this fall is to save...
The Policy Shop: Solving poverty the right way
The Policy Shop: Solving poverty the right way
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Fiscal and Economic Research Bryce Hill. America has lost the War on Poverty. After nearly 60 years, the poverty rate remains stuck between 11% and 15%. It focused on making poverty less painful rather than helping people escape a trap that lasts for generations. The free...
The Policy Shop: One small victory for Illinois homeowners
The Policy Shop: One small victory for Illinois homeowners
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Policy Research Joseph Tabor. Geraldine Tyler is a 94-year-old Minnesota grandmother who in 2010 fell behind in the property taxes on her one-bedroom condo after moving into a senior living apartment. Hennepin County took the condo, sold it for $40,000 to cover a tax debt...
The Policy Shop: The Chicago Teachers Union’s hypocrisy
The Policy Shop: The Chicago Teachers Union’s hypocrisy
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy analyst Hannah Schmid. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates believes in school choice – for herself. Now that she’s admitted her child attends a private high school, she is attempting to spin the hypocrisy of trying to stop low-income families from making that same choice into...
The Policy Shop: More money, more problems at Chicago Public Schools
The Policy Shop: More money, more problems at Chicago Public Schools
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy analyst Hannah Schmid. Almost everyone in Illinois is back to school at this point – even Chicago Public Schools’ first day was earlier than their typical post-Labor Day start. Speaking of CPS, many students will return to Chicago school buildings with mostly empty seats...
The Policy Shop: Chicago’s youth violence problem
The Policy Shop: Chicago’s youth violence problem
This edition of The Policy Shop comes to you from policy adviser Paul Vallas and writer Patrick Andriesen. Happy Wednesday. Today we’ll be looking at gun violence in Chicago and the spike in youth crime, trying to understand what’s really going on. Chicago’s gun problem. Shootings in Chicago in 2022 were up by nearly one-third compared...