Two Illinois businesses have announced they will leave for Indiana since the start of July. One of them, ironically, is named after the state of Illinois. Illini Hi-Reach is a rental provider of industrial equipment. Illini announced on July 2 that it will move its corporate headquarters from Lemont, Ill. to Crown Point, Ind. Less...
The recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling on state retiree health insurance benefits creates a major problem for both the state and local governments. The court ruled that retiree health insurance benefits are protected by the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution. The ruling will make it difficult to reform retiree health benefits and to...
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...
It is a sad commentary on our political system when a lawmaker has to file suit in federal court to enforce the law. But earlier this year, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., did just that. He filed suit in federal court “to make Congress live by the letter of the health care law it imposed on...
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE, filed a lawsuit against Chicago State University, or CSU, last week, accusing the university of “[engaging] in an ongoing campaign to silence … criticisms of how the university is run” when it tried to shut down an independently operated faculty blog. Since at least last year,...
A recent Politico article, “Why liberals are abandoning the employer mandate,” highlights the growing list of liberal policy advocates and analysts who now favor scrapping the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, employer mandate. Originally scheduled to take effect in January of this year, this provision has already been delayed twice. The facts about the destructive...
Sara Travis loves Chicago. She’s lived here her whole life. When Sara decided to start her own business, there was no question that she would set up shop in her hometown. Sara founded The Brew Hub, a mobile coffee-vending business that sells iced coffees and teas, in June 2013. But she encountered endless obstacles to becoming...
A convicted torturer is still receiving an Illinois state pension. On July 3, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of a decision by Chicago’s police pension board allowing disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge to continue receiving his approximately $3,000 per month pension. That’s despite the fact that Burge is currently serving a...
When Sara decided to start her own business, there was no question that she would set up shop in her hometown.
The Illinois General Assembly recently sent a bill to Gov. Pat Quinn that would make it much harder and more expensive for citizens to fight public corruption through the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. The governor did not sign this bill – and that’s good news for Illinoisans. Illinois is already ranked as the...
On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its final decision in Harris v. Quinn. Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion, approved by a majority of the court, is the last word. There will be no further appeal. But there are still loose ends for the lawyers to tie up. The case of Harris v. Quinn will...
Illinois Policy Action is launching a campaign to hold Illinois legislators accountable to their promise of letting the 2011 income tax hike sunset on schedule. In the spring legislative session, politicians strongly stated their opposition to extending this massive income tax increase on Illinois families. Now, Illinois Policy Action will be asking legislators to sign...
Just as travelers prepare to hit the road to celebrate Independence Day weekend, national gas prices have risen to levels not seen since 2008. And though prices have dropped slightly in Chicago, the price for a gallon of gas is still higher than it was last year, according to AAA. Today, the average price per...
More than a dozen companies in Illinois will likely cut a total of nearly 1,700 jobs by the end of the year, according to a new state report. The June report for the Illinois’ Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, is filled with job cuts from a commercial printing company, a jewelry company,...