President Obama came into office promising to reduce health-care costs. Instead of delivering on that promise – to reduce health insurance premiums by $2,500 per year for the average family – premiums have actually increased an average of 30 percent over the last year alone. That’s on top of the broken promises that you could...
Most people might think that the police can’t take and keep your property unless they can prove that you used it in illegal activities. Most people would be wrong. Under state and federal civil asset forfeiture laws, which are increasingly garnering national attention, police can take property they suspect has somehow been involved with criminal...
In the next bad surprise for taxpayers and Illinois’ downstate teachers, the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, announced that the shortfall in its pension fund has increased by $6 billion. The bigger shortfall means that without real pension reform, teachers may see their pensions cut and taxpayers may be called on to bail out the nearly insolvent...
Illinois is ranked as the third-most corrupt state in the nation. And Illinoisans have by far the lowest level of trust in state government in the nation at only 28 percent. So why are lawmakers trying to make it harder and more expensive for citizens to fight public corruption? A “watchdog tax” bill that does...
Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, officials announced yesterday that the district laid off a group of teachers and other staff. Overall, 1,150 school district employees, composed of 550 teachers and 600 clerical support staff, are being let go by the school district. This round of layoffs comes a year after CPS let go a further...
As early as today, the U.S. Supreme Court could announce its decision in the case Harris v. Quinn. Legal experts and unions across the country are watching closely as it could be a landmark decision on the issues of unionization and freedom of speech. The lead plaintiff, Pam Harris, is a suburban Chicago mom whose...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s imminent decision in Halbig v. Sebelius could be an important step in toppling ObamaCare. The central issue in Halbig v. Sebelius is whether the Internal Revenue Service can provide tax credits to individuals, as well as impose penalties on employers, in states that did not establish...
In 2003 and 2009, governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn, respectively, issued executive orders to unionize parents who receive a modest Medicaid benefit to help pay for the cost of caring for their disabled children. Suburban Chicago mother Pam Harris has bravely taken this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court in what could be a...
Taxpayers finally scored a victory in Illinois. Lawmakers kept their promise and passed a budget slated to provide income tax relief starting in January 2015. But a threat to that relief still looms large. After the November election this fall, current lawmakers will meet for a final time in January for their lame-duck session. There’s...
Illinois’ lawmakers often blame unions for the Illinois General Assembly’s inability to pass real pension reform. “The unions will never allow it” is the common chorus when it comes to proposing bold reforms like those recently passed in Oklahoma, which put nearly all new state workers on 401(k)-style plans, or those passed in many other...
Illinoisans cross the border to become Hoosiers at a stunning rate. Illinois had a net loss of 4,100 people and $76 million of annual income to Indiana in 2010 alone, the most recent year of Internal Revenue Service data. That’s because for every three people who left Indiana for Illinois, four left Illinois for Indiana. Illinois’ losses to Indiana are...
Illinois’ unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.9 percent month-over-month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent household survey. But there’s no reason to celebrate. Payroll jobs shrank by 2,600, with a loss of 5,400 private-sector jobs and an increase of 2,800 government jobs. The decline in the unemployment rate was driven...
State workers, retirees and public-sector unions groups have filed various lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1, the state pension reform bill signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn in December 2013. The top pensioner of those suing the state will receive $2.4 million in pension benefits over the course of his retirement. That...
Temporary tax hikes notoriously stick around longer than planned. Pennsylvania passed a 10 percent tax on alcohol to pay for damage from a flood in 1936. The state continued to levy the tax after the flood damage was paid for. Today the rate is 18 percent. But lawmakers across the country have been better at...