Chicago and state politicians have ignored the city’s growing pension crisis for nearly two decades. But with the recent onslaught of credit downgrades, billion-dollar budget deficits and comparisons to Detroit, the city’s problem has become impossible to ignore. Chicago’s slide toward bankruptcy now threatens the city’s status as an economic powerhouse, as well as the...
Incumbent politicians hate to be criticized, and in Illinois some of them have decided to do something about it – not by correcting the behavior for which people criticize them, but by trying to repeal the First Amendment. That may sound outrageous, but it’s true. On Thursday, the Illinois Senate’s Executive Committee passed a resolution...
When House Speaker Michael Madigan issued a press release about his new tax proposal yesterday – which levies a 3 percent surcharge on income over $1 million, which Madigan said will provide funding for schools – he highlighted the struggles of districts across the state to balance their books. Unfortunately, he neglected to mention these...
$31.6 billion is more than what Illinois spends on all core government services (e.g., education, health care, human services, public safety) in a full fiscal year.
In Illinois, elected officials and government unions negotiate their contracts completely hidden from the eyes of taxpayers. This means taxpayers end up paying for increases in government workers’ salaries, benefits and other expenses – but aren’t even allowed to see what they’re paying for until it’s too late. Unfortunately, about two weeks ago a bill...
Today the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s “eavesdropping” law, which had been widely criticized as the most unfair, overbroad law of its kind in the country. Under Illinois state law, recording someone else’s words without his or her consent was a felony. The law was supposedly intended to protect people’s private conversations, which...
Myth #1: “The ‘fair tax’ will only affect the rich.” Don’t be fooled. The ‘fair tax’ is being sold as a tax on the rich. But under the proposal from state Rep Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, the lawmaker who is sponsoring the bill to put a so-called “fair tax,” or progressive tax, amendment on the...
Like so many promises made to the American public while promoting ObamaCare, the promise that the new health-care overhaul would save the average family $2,500 per year turned out to be false. Not only was this promise repeated over and over, the sad reality is that many families couldn’t keep their health plan and their...
Most people assume that Chicago is home to Illinois’ lowest-performing schools. And that’s not a far-fetched belief – Chicago’s lowest-performing schools are doing a dismal job of teaching students the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the future. But Chicago is home to only 45 percent of the state’s lowest-performing elementary schools and...
Improving government transparency is a year-round effort for the Illinois Policy Institute, but each year during Sunshine Week, we place a special focus on the issue. We celebrate Sunshine Week by releasing the latest round of Local Transparency Project audit results, this time measuring the transparency levels of some of Illinois’ largest municipalities, in relation...
A recent flurry of ObamaCare marketing gimmicks aimed at young Americans reeks of desperation on the part of the administration and Illinois state officials. Recent examples coming from the White House include a “Funny or Die” spoof interview featuring President Barack Obama with comedian Zach Galifianakis to a series of health care-themed GIFs on the...
Can you solve the following math problem? Ninety-two percent of students in Illinois’ lowest-performing high schools struggle to solve problems like this one. Low-performing schools aren’t a Chicago-only phenomenon – the city is home to only 45% of the state’s lowest-performing elementary schools and high schools. More than half of the state’s lowest-performing schools are outside of...
The Rock Island County Government Affairs Committee recently passed a resolution urging lawmakers in Springfield to increase taxes on middle-class families. The sales pitch for a progressive income tax in Rock Island – as well as cities and counties across the state – is that it would reduce taxes for middle-class residents. That’s simply not...
Illinois’ loss of 27,600 payroll jobs in January was second-worst nationally, according to today’s release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only California, which shed 31,500 payroll positions, fared worse. Texas and Ohio led the nation in adding payroll jobs. Illinois is one of six states with an unemployment rate significantly above the...