Harris v. Quinn freed workers from paying for union political agenda
Harris v. Quinn freed workers from paying for union political agenda
The Illinois Policy Institute’s recent report on union spending focused on Illinois’ big, statewide public-sector unions, but there are lots of important locals that are misusing their members’ funds as well. One of the most interesting is Healthcare IL-IN, a Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, local that played a controversial role in organizing day-care...
By Paul Kersey
Baxter denies claims it will relocate from Illinois to Boston
Baxter denies claims it will relocate from Illinois to Boston
Though Baxter International Inc. has denied reports that it is considering relocating to Boston, Illinois officials are in damage-control mode to ensure that the Deerfield, Ill.-based company stays put. On Aug. 27, the Boston Business Journal reported that Baxter, a biotech giant that has been based in Illinois since the 1930s, is looking to make a...
By Hilary Gowins
Illinois metro areas lag behind most others in the nation on jobs recovery
Illinois metro areas lag behind most others in the nation on jobs recovery
The unemployment rate fell in all of Illinois’ metropolitan statistical areas in July, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. In fact, unemployment rates have fallen in all metro areas for four consecutive months, which seems like welcome news. But these numbers are only encouraging at face value. As is...
By Michael Lucci
Evidence of job losses due to ObamaCare continues to grow
Evidence of job losses due to ObamaCare continues to grow
For months, data suggesting that the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, is hurting employment have been dismissed by the White House as anecdotal. But a recent survey of businesses conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia seems to provide undeniable proof that the law is forcing businesses to fire employees and cut health benefits....
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills totals $4.4 billion
Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills totals $4.4 billion
Illinois began August with a $4.4 billion dollar backlog of unpaid bills. If lawmakers would have kept the promises they made in 2011, the backlog would be zero today – or close to it. In January 2011, Illinois lawmakers pushed through a record tax hike that raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5...
By Benjamin VanMetre
Quinn vetoes Uber legislation that would have stifled innovation, jobs growth and competition
Quinn vetoes Uber legislation that would have stifled innovation, jobs growth and competition
Nearly three months after the Illinois General Assembly passed devastating restrictions on innovative ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft, Gov. Pat Quinn issued a surprising blow to the taxicab lobby by vetoing the job-killing legislation in its entirety. This March, in response to the recent success and popularity of ridesharing programs such as Uber...
By Matt Paprocki
Gov. Quinn vetoes Uber bill
Gov. Quinn vetoes Uber bill
On Aug. 25 Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a bill pushed by the taxi lobby that would have restricted ridesharing services such as UberX and Lyft in Chicago. The veto is good news for ridesharing consumers and drivers. Uber will now move forward with its plan to bring 425 new jobs to Illinois. The bill’s champion...
Food-cart ban harms immigrants, new entrepreneurs
Food-cart ban harms immigrants, new entrepreneurs
There’s no right more basic than the right to earn a living to support yourself and your family. And for decades, that’s what street vendors have been trying to do. From elote-cart owners in Little Village to ice-cream carts along North Avenue Beach, entrepreneurs – who are often recent immigrants – have supported themselves by...
By Bryant Jackson-Green
ObamaCare in Illinois: Reality check
ObamaCare in Illinois: Reality check
In its first annual report, GetCovered Illinois touts “succeeding in enrolling more than 600,000 people in health coverage through the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace and Medicaid.” But by very selectively picking and choosing what information to make public, Illinois officials are failing to provide any real insight into whether the state has actually achieved its...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
The myth of an Illinois comeback
The myth of an Illinois comeback
Illinois is dead last of all 50 states in recovering from the Great Recession – and two economic surveys prepared each month by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics prove it. The BLS and IDES surveys track employment and jobs growth in Illinois: both household surveys...
By Michael Lucci
Cubs tarp fiasco a result of ObamaCare?
Cubs tarp fiasco a result of ObamaCare?
Forget the Curse of the Billygoat – the spectre of ObamaCare might have embarrassed the Cubs organization just as much as the team’s poor performance on the field. Already running last in the National League Central, the franchise suffered another blow to their ego this week when they allegedly failed to staff enough grounds crew...
By Naomi Lopez Bauman
Union waste and pay raises cost thousands of government workers their jobs
Union waste and pay raises cost thousands of government workers their jobs
Several of Illinois’ most influential government unions are wasting money on overhead and administrative costs. Workers aren’t getting their money’s worth for the dues they are forced to pay. But state-employee pay has more than doubled over the last decade or so, with lax attendance rules that actually reward workers for showing up late to work....
By Paul Kersey
Illinois a terrible hostess: Twinkies leave the state
Illinois a terrible hostess: Twinkies leave the state
Hostess Brands LLC announced on Aug. 20 that the Illinois bakery where Twinkies were first invented will close this fall. More than 400 workers will be affected by the shuttering of the company’s Schiller Park location in October. Sadly, this isn’t surprising. In 2012, Hostess closed three bakeries nationwide after a massive union strike, high...
By Austin Berg
Free to care
Free to care
Laura and Sandy are small business owners in downstate Illinois. Because they receive state aid to care for low-income children, Laura, Sandy and 50,000 other Illinois day-care providers like them were forced by the state to join a union and pay dues. But in June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking ruling in...