Minorities have suffered disproportionately under the failed economic policies of Gov. Pat Quinn. From its pre-recession peak through 2013, the black employment rate has plummeted by 7.1 percentage points, more than any other racial group in Illinois. Fewer than half of black adults are employed in Illinois. And the black male employment rate has been...
According to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s 500 Illinois’ credit rating is the worst among the 50 states. We are the only state in the country with an A- credit rating – on par with nations such as Botswana, Latvia and Slovenia And Illinoisans should be aware of the possibility that we could be headed...
Illinois has become infamous for encouraging cronyism and discouraging entrepreneurship, but there are a number of steps state lawmakers could take to end this cycle and encourage growth. Without serious changes, Illinois will continue on a cycle of job loss and economic decline. According to the Kauffman Foundation, Illinois ranks near the bottom for entrepreneurial...
Illinoisans’ average property tax rates as a percentage of home value have soared to 2.28 percent in 2012 from 1.93 percent in 2010. This is the second highest rate in the nation. Many Illinois residents are asking why their taxes are so high, and are curious as to where all this is money going. One organization,...
Warshawsky Muffler has operated in Rockford, Ill., for 70 years, but that’s scheduled to change. The Rockford City Council said it may seize the three properties owned by S&L Warshawsky’s Inc. in order to allow a private developer to build a parking lot, according to the Rockford Register Star. The city decided earlier this year to...
At least 84 corruption-related stories have been reported from across the state of Illinois in August alone. Atop August headlines is the recent revelation that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the emails of Gov. Pat Quinn’s ex-chief of staff in relation to Quinn’s anti-violence grant program. The case, which has been referred to by some...
U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 142,000 jobs in August, against consensus expectations of 230,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. August marked the worst month of job creation in 2014. Average monthly job creation so far this year is 215,000. The national unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1 percent, because only 16,000 unemployed Americans found...
Promote worker freedom by creating local right-to-work zones.
Good news for the Obama administration: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has granted the administration’s request to rehear the court’s July 22 decision in Halbig v. Burwell. That decision struck down an Internal Revenue Service rule that made ObamaCare insurance subsidies available in all 50 states, even though the...
Illinois has the worst-funded pension systems in the nation. But there’s one group of state-government workers that isn’t worried about whether their retirement checks will be slashed. Today, more than 13 percent of all active employees in the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, participate in a 401(k)-style plan instead of a traditional pension plan...
It’s been months since the end of ObamaCare’s first open-enrollment period and another is just around the corner in November. But as Illinois officials gear up for the second enrollment period, which begins in November, there is early evidence pointing toward more trouble ahead for the health-care overhaul. The state’s original goal was to enroll...
Illinois is already facing a shortfall of more than $56 billion in retiree health insurance debt. But today, many state workers retire in their 50s with full health-insurance benefits and then supplemental coverage once they are eligible for Medicare. State retirees pay a small portion of that total cost, but taxpayers are footing the bill...
Should the right to open a new business be put up to a public vote? At a meeting this week in Geneva, Ill., aldermen voted to reject tattoo artist Ramiro Guillen’s plan to open a tattoo parlor on Randall road because of opposition from other business owners. And, one alderman speculated, because of stereotypes about...
Illinois has long been known as a high-income state, but that‘s changed for many families in the middle. After decades of policy mistakes, the backbone of the state – Illinois’ middle class – has been hollowed out. Throughout Illinois’ history, innovation and high employment led to high incomes, making the Land of Lincoln a wealthy...