The Medicaid welfare program has long been plagued with wasteful spending. The U.S. Government Accountability Office designates Medicaid as a high-risk program, largely because it is “particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments” and has inadequate oversight to prevent wasteful spending. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, reports an improper...
The real story behind Illinois’ decade of fiscal and governance crises is that the number of jobs is shrinking and food stamps are taking their place. Illinois’ massive pension debt, perennial overspending and high taxes are squeezing out the private sector and jobs, while Springfield’s dysfunction and the state’s collapsing credit rating are destroying investor...
by Jonathan Ingram If you’re like many Americans, you’re already worried about the impact ObamaCare will have on you and your family. So, in an effort to avoid what Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., termed a “huge train wreck” in the making, the federal government has enlisted the help of several state governments to market the law. The...
by Josh Dwyer Illinois’ education system is struggling. Fewer than half of public school students are college-ready in reading, math and science, and last year82 percent of Illinois districts failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress – a key measure in No Child Left Behind that gauges school success. What’s even more startling is that these poor outcomes...
by Paul Kersey CNBC released its rankings of the friendliest states for business last week. Illinois dropped further down the list, but one nearby state is climbing, in large part because its elected officials passed a Right-to-Work law. CNBC’s Scott Cohn took notice, reporting that the Michigan moved from 33rd to 29th. CNBC’s rating of the state’s...
by Paul Kersey Plans to reopen Hostess Brands bakeries, including one in the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, are going forward. The company has announced that the Twinkie will make its glorious return on July 15. But while the reorganized Hostess is making what it calls “the sweetest comeback in the history of ever,” the bakers...
It’s no secret to drivers in the Greater Chicago area that gas prices are cheaper across state lines. Illinoisans who live or work near bordering states often drive the extra few miles out of their way to take advantage of cheaper gas in Wisconsin and Indiana. So how do gas prices – and taxes –...
by Brian Costin Illinois is notorious for government corruption. Since 1976, the state has had the third-highest amount of public corruption convictions in the country — including four out of the last seven governors. Outside of Springfield, things aren’t much better. Chicago has been called “the most corrupt city in America.” A report by the University of Illinois-Chicago and...
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from Americans for Limited Government, the Internal Revenue Service revealed that 200 of its “employees” actually work full time for the National Treasury Employees Union, or NTEU. The special union arrangement, known as “official time,” means that rather than working on investigating and collecting taxes, public workers whose...
by Ben VanMetre CNBC released this week its Top States for Business 2013 index. Illinois dropped 11 notches overall, to 37th from 26th, in just one year. The study scores all 50 states on 51 measures of competitiveness, and the metrics are boiled down to 10 broad categories. Each category is weighted differently. Unfortunately, Illinois ranks...
At a time when the state of Illinois has more than $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, more than $6 billion in unpaid bills and is coming off of its 13th credit downgrade since 2009, it might shock Illinoisans to hear that Gov. Quinn is one of the highest-paid governors in the country. Gov. Pat Quinn’s salary is $177,412. According...
Lawmakers on the Illinois General Assembly’s pension conference committee failed to meet Gov. Pat Quinn’s July 9 deadline to resolve the differences between the various pension reform proposals on the table. At a press conference Wednesday, Quinn announced that he is freezing legislators’ pay until they come up with a comprehensive pension solution. Quinn said he won’t collect...
by Ben VanMetre Illinois is notorious for ignoring its financial obligations and racking up billions in unpaid bills. When it sits on those unpaid bills long enough, the state has to pay a penalty. Illinois is required by law to pay interest of 1 percent a month on its unpaid bills, also called invoices, when they become...
One of the screwier effects of Illinois labor law was on display recently when an arbitrator ruled that the state would have to terminate its contract with Maximus Health Services. In September 2012, the state hired Maximus to review Illinois’ Medicaid rolls and remove those who were no longer eligible for benefits. The company’s investigation identified 60,000...