As Illinois elected leaders continue to delay action on pension reform, a broad and bipartisan coalition has succeeded in pushing for reforms to public employee benefits in New Mexico.
States with the slowest housing appreciation tend to have worse labor markets, higher taxes and more pension debt.
A Cook County commissioner quits as a former city administrator faces a bribery charge. Both played roles in the rise of red-light cameras and vendor SafeSpeed.
Lawmakers routinely spend faster than taxpayers’ incomes grow. A new bill would put Illinois with the majority of states that limit taxes or spending.
The proposal is named after Hayli Martenez, a Kankakee girl who was forced to shutter her lemonade stand last summer by county health officials.
The former leader of a wealthy school district is receiving a massive pension boosted by a pair of 20% raises given during her final two years. Illinois needs pension reform.
Visions of the community’s future no longer bring comfort. Instead, they inspire crippling fear.
Illinois law requires the governor to propose a budget balanced with existing revenues. To do so, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposes cutting aid owed local governments, raiding the road fund, letting health insurance costs pile up and withholding taxpayers’ refunds.
Property taxes in Illinois are nearly double the national average. Until state lawmakers trim down thousands of local governments and pursue pension reform, those bills wills remain high.
There’s no doubt: the county taxed soda more, so people bought less of it. It’s a simple lesson. So why doesn’t Springfield get it?
The pension crisis is worse than the state admits, and the state’s official projections cannot be trusted.
Illinois has not truly balanced its budget since 2001 despite a constitutional requirement to do so. A new bill would help change that.