Craft brewers face regulatory challenges in Illinois
Craft brewers face regulatory challenges in Illinois
Much to the delight of many Chicago beer enthusiasts, the city’s craft beer market has grown in recent years. New Chicago breweries such as Revolution Brewing, Half Acre Beer Company and PipeWorks Brewing are making inroads on traditional brewers. The craft beer revolution is taking root throughout the rest of the state as well. Rolling Meadows Brewery in Springfield and Destihl Brewery in Bloomington...
By Bryant Jackson-Green, Justin Hegy
Interactive dashboard: State income tax rates
Interactive dashboard: State income tax rates
Illinois’ competitive flat rate income tax is protected in the state’s constitution. But there is a growing movement to increase income taxes in Illinois by swapping out the state’s flat-rate income tax for a progressive tax. The progressive tax plan is being sold as a tax on the rich. But the data tell a different...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Standardized test scores show Illinois still struggling
Standardized test scores show Illinois still struggling
As the 2013-2014 school year begins in Illinois, results from last year’s standardized tests reveal that public schools across the state have a long way to go in improving education outcomes. Recent scores showed that: Overall, only 25 percent of the state’s juniors were considered college-ready in all four subjects last year – the exact percentage as...
Myth of cream-skimming
Myth of cream-skimming
The lowest-performing public school students are the most likely to use and benefit from school choice programs according to a new study on Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program. In fact, 27.9 percent of students who participated in the program were in the bottom fifth of their prior public school’s mathematics test score distribution. These findings fly in...
ObamaCare: Companies changing health plans for 2014
ObamaCare: Companies changing health plans for 2014
President Barack Obama promised Americans that under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, “If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan.” The unfortunate reality is that only a lucky few can keep their health plan. As the new law is implemented, many employees will be left with less...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Sebelius uses video contest to attract young people to ObamaCare
Sebelius uses video contest to attract young people to ObamaCare
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced a video contest offering cash prizes to young people for pro-ObamaCare videos. According to Sebelius: “Soon the Health Insurance Marketplace will give uninsured young people the opportunity to enroll in affordable health insurance, and the Healthy Young America video contest will help them tell their stories to other young...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Unions and ObamaCare – It just gets worse and worse
Unions and ObamaCare – It just gets worse and worse
The more that unions get to see of ObamaCare, the uglier it gets. At its annual convention the Nevada State AFL-CIO passed a strongly-worded resolution calling for changes to the “Affordable Care Act”. They aren’t the first, but the Nevada group’s statement might be the sharpest critique of ObamaCare to come out of the union movement yet. It...
By Paul Kersey
Chicago City College likely to cut hours for adjunct professors and tutors due to ObamaCare
Chicago City College likely to cut hours for adjunct professors and tutors due to ObamaCare
Here in Chicago it would be rather awkward if a local union were to go out of its way to criticize President Barack Obama or his signature achievement, Obamacare – he’s a Chicagoan after all. But there is at least one area union that is having a little trouble on account of the national health...
More than 115,000 Medicaid enrollees in Illinois found ineligible for the program
More than 115,000 Medicaid enrollees in Illinois found ineligible for the program
In January, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, began a new project verifying eligibility for Illinois’ 2.7 million Medicaid enrollees. For years, state workers had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. As an auditor general report noted, state workers...
By Jonathan Ingram
Detroit: A story that must be told
Detroit: A story that must be told
Two weeks ago I took in the demise of Detroit with my own eyes. I was fortunate to be with my colleague, Detroit native Paul Kersey. As we embarked on the trip, he told me “Detroit is a story that must be told.” He was right. I’d seen the pictures and knew the history, but...
By Ted Dabrowski
The work vs. welfare trade-off in Illinois
The work vs. welfare trade-off in Illinois
A new study by the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., takes a state-by-state look at the value of the welfare benefits package. While no one in America receives welfare benefits from all 72 federal welfare benefits programs that provide direct cash or in-kind assistance, long-term welfare beneficiaries are more likely to receive benefits from multiple programs. Highlights...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Illinois ACT scores post biggest drop in a decade
Illinois ACT scores post biggest drop in a decade
New ACT scores reveal that Illinois schools are still struggling to prepare their students for life after graduation. Overall, only 25 percent of the state’s students were considered college-ready in all four subjects – the exact same percentage as last year and 1 percentage point below the national average. This is still too low, especially for a...
Chicago’s Divvy bike-sharing program costing taxpayers big
Chicago’s Divvy bike-sharing program costing taxpayers big
Divvy bike stations are expanding throughout Chicago, offering riders low membership costs and 24-hour rental fees. But this multimillion-dollar project is bringing in only a fraction of the money necessary to fund it. Last year, the city of Chicago announced a controversial $65 million contract with ALTA Bicycle Share to operate a 4,000 bicycle bike-share program in...
By Brian Costin
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission and the case for capless campaign spending
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission and the case for capless campaign spending
Not long after the Supreme Court announced earlier this year that it would hear McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, a case concerning election contribution limits, political commentators began to hype the alleged dangers of money in our political process. In recent weeks, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments in the case in October,...
By Bryant Jackson-Green