Before the Illinois General Assembly began its spring session extension on June 22, the Illinois Policy Institute held a press conference in Springfield to present our latest report, “Budget FAIL: Plan Awaiting Gov. Quinn’s Signature Grows Spending, Debt.” The report shows that the 2012 budget is not a reduction in spending and does little to...
State spending will increase in 2012. That is, unless additional cuts and policy changes are added to the general fund budget currently awaiting Gov. Quinn’s signature. Following the close of the spring session, many news outlets reported that the House and Senate had passed a 2012 general fund budget of $33.2 billion that cut overall...
by Sameer Warraich Last week, Crain’s Chicago Business reported the results of recent research on the manufacturing performance of all 50 states. The study, by Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research, gave each state a grade based on criteria including manufacturing and logistics health, human capital, cost of benefits, global position and diversification of industries,...
State spending will increase in 2012. That is, unless additional cuts and policy changes are added to the general fund budget currently awaiting Gov. Quinn’s signature. Following the close of the spring session, many news outlets reported that the House and Senate had passed a 2012 general fund budget of $33.2 billion that cut overall...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released May unemployment figures showing Illinois’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up .1 percent to 8.9 percent in May as compared to 8.8 percent in April. The Chicago metropolitan area experienced a .4 percent increase in the same time frame to 8.9 percent in May, up from 8.5...
by Mark Cavers During their latest session Indiana’s legislature passed and Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a bill that will reward students who graduate from high school a year early. Under the program, Indiana high school students who graduate in three years will receive a $4,000 scholarship to attend any Indiana university or trade school. Providing a cash...
by Mark Cavers Youth Connection Charter School is a hybrid school that combines direct classroom instruction (think traditional school) with an online curriculum and enrolls students who have dropped out of other high schools. This unique learning environment allows teachers to tailor individual lessons to meet each students’ needs. Here is a short film detailing YCCS...
by Katherine Casey Taxpayer-funded state lobbying is once again on the rise in Illinois. As the Illinois Policy Institute noted earlier this year in its 2011-2012 Illinois Legislators’ Guide to the Issues, a lack of transparency still plagues the topic of lobbying across the state. Unknown to many citizens, “state-level lobbying” has quickly seeped its way into towns and...
CHICAGO (June 15, 2011) — The city of Evanston scored the highest of five Evanston-area governments in the latest leg of the Illinois Policy Institute’s “Local Transparency Project,” which grades governments on the availability to the public of vital community information. The city earned a score of 91.7 out of 100 possible points for making...
by Kristina Rasmussen PETA sent Gov. Quinn a letter echoing our request that he veto funding for the state’s Urban Fishing Program: I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters, including thousands across Illinois, to respectfully urge you to end state funding for the Illinois...
by Sameer Warraich Anthony Randazzo of the Reason Foundation recently published an article discussing the effect of government intervention in the mortgage market. As with many government interventions to expand home ownership, there are unintended consequences. While some groups are criticizing a move to make “qualified residential mortgage” guidelines more strict, Randazzo highlights the often overlooked difference between affordable...
by Aon Hussain Just last week, the Chicago Sun Times published an interesting article about the state of rising teacher salaries. In some parts of Illinois, it is not uncommon to see some teachers earning six figures. In addition to high teacher salaries, administrators of various school districts are making a lot of money even as school...
by Drew McKinley Last week the Illinois House passed HB1698, which attempted to reform Illinois’s broken workers’ compensation system. In the bill, the key mechanism for reducing spending is to cut payments to physicians and specialists by 30%. However, studies have shown that cutting reimbursements to physicians actually increases the cost of care. For example,...
by Drew McKinley As the Institute noted this week, Illinois is currently suffering from the thirdworst job loss rates in the nation. Also this week, the CME Group announced it was considering leaving Illinois. The corporate tax hike passed during the most recent lame-duck session of the state legislature is poised to cost the CME Group $50 million...