With this year’s budget speech just a day away, details of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to deal with the state’s financial problems are slowly leaking to the press. According to reports, the governor will call for a $400 million cut to the portion of K-12 education budget that is spent on students. But, don’t be...
As Gov. Pat Quinn delivers his fifth annual budget proposal today, it’s important to review the governor’s track record and what his policies have meant for Illinois. When Quinn took office in 2009, Illinois was reeling from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his culture of deficits and corruption. The state’s fiscal condition was a shaky...
For more than a decade, Illinois’ Medicaid program has failed to meet the needs of the state’s most vulnerable residents. Access to high-quality care has deteriorated, even as record amounts of taxpayer dollars are spent on the ballooning program. Over the years, eligibility standards have loosened to increasingly include families earning ever-higher incomes. Today, only...
Imagine a football game where the referees threw flags and called out penalties, but never actually marked off the yardage. That’s exactly how the “Affirmative Attendance Policy” within the previous American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees works: a state worker can blow off work at least 10 times with nothing worse than a...
The convoluted process of figuring out a unionized state government employee’s wages is a prime example of why the collective bargaining process needs more sunshine. While we wait for details on the contract that the state agreed to with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, it’s worth examining how to figure out...
Senate Democrats pushed through Senate Bill 26, which would impose ObamaCare’s massive expansion of Medicaid on Illinois, on Feb. 28. The bill passed on a party-line vote. You may recall that when this bill was debated in committee, proponents were allowed an hour of testimony – I was given less than one minute to testify in opposition. It’s a...
The 2013 legislative session is in full swing and there are a number of good government reform bills that have been introduced by legislators of both parties. While much of the focus in the media and at the Illinois Policy Institute is rightly on big-dollar issues such as pension and Medicaid reform, there are many other issues...
On Feb. 28, the Illinois Policy Institute held a press conference to publicly release its alternative budget plan, entitled Budget Solutions 2014. This 10-point plan offers responsible solutions to Illinois’ fiscal crisis. State Reps. Tom Morrison, Jeanne Ives, Dwight Kay and state Sen. Kyle McCarter showed their support and attended the press conference. Budget Solutions...
“Illinois will lose approximately $33.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 460 teacher and aide jobs at risk.” “Up to 1,100 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access to child care.” “Illinois would lose approximately $764,000 in funds that provide meals for seniors.” “Vital services will be cut for children, seniors,...
Gov. Pat Quinn managed to avoid a government worker strike, but that doesn’t spell success. There is still much that remains unknown about the terms of the tentative agreement that Illinois just reached with Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, but the main features that are emerging paint a...
Health nuts and anti-tobacco fanatics, get out your streamers and champagne: Cook County’s new $1 per pack cigarette tax hike goes into effect today. Contrary to the so-called health conscious intentions of this tax’s creators, however, Cook County smokers will continue to buy cigarettes. Lots of them. Last year, Cook County brought in approximately $115 million...
Illinois lawmakers passed a 67% income tax hike in 2011. They said that the tax hike would be temporary, making a promise to taxpayers that it would sunset on Jan. 1st, 2015. But there have been absolutely no reform efforts to date that would reduce spending enough for lawmakers to keep their promise. And with...
Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced a few minutes ago that they have reached a tentative agreement with the state of Illinois. As of right now the terms are unknown. While they will leak out to the public slowly, there is no guarantee that the general public will get...
Another 35,000 added to unemployment in February